


And Everything in Between

by Marks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), First Time, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Jealousy, Light Angst, Lizards, Long-Term Crushes, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, don’t let that tag worry you, it's just a pet lizard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-11-05 01:28:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 51,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marks/pseuds/Marks
Summary: Yamaguchi buys Tsukishima a lizard for his seventeenth birthday. It might sound like a weird beginning to something more, but life can be weird sometimes.





	1. Chickens Are Related to Dinosaurs

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of months ago, I started writing something I called "the lizard fic," thinking it would be a cute little one-shot I'd write in a few days. Many thousands of words later, I have a ton of mutual pining and two-way jealousy and late-night almosts and so much tension. Also volleyball, if you’re into that.
> 
> There's still a lizard. Click [here](http://i.imgur.com/4M2SD2A.jpg) if you want to know what inland bearded dragons look like. And if you're wondering about the fall nationals vs. interhigh vs. spring high thing, there's info about that [here](https://honyakukanomangen.tumblr.com/post/112431023733/japan-mens-high-school-volleyball-calendar). HQ fandom is amazing.
> 
> I plan on posting every Thursday. I think my chapter count is right, but it might wind up being one or two more. Rating is for later chapters. Comments, kudos, and subscriptions are all good! Contact info is in my profile.

"Shh, shh, don't bump into anything or we'll wake him up."  
   
Yamaguchi wasn't good at keeping secrets from Tsukishima, but he'd managed for a whole month. He'd be damned if he was going to let anyone ruin it for him, especially after waking up an hour early so he could pull this off. Hinata tried saluting, but since he was holding a corner of Tsukishima's gift, this was a very bad idea. Lucky for all of them, Kageyama had the quickest reflexes on earth and was able to catch Hinata's side before the whole thing went crashing to the floor.  
   
"Idiot," Kageyama muttered. Hinata stuck his tongue out at him.  
   
Akiteru popped his head out of his bedroom and grinned when he saw them. "Can I help?" he whispered. Yamaguchi nodded and with the four of them each holding a side, they were able to get the wooden vivarium into Akiteru's room without any other incidents. Luckily, that was also where it was supposed to stay.  It was too big for Tsukishima's room with Tsukishima in it, so Yamaguchi had coordinated with Tsukki's parents to work out all the details. Akiteru's room was basically a guest room most of the time, what with Akiteru living in Sendai. Plus, it was right next door to Tsukishima's bedroom, so it just made the most sense. Akiteru said he didn't mind sharing whenever he was visiting anyway.  
   
"Where's the —" Akiteru peered into the vivarium. "You know, the guest of honor."  
   
"Duh, he's asleep!" Hinata said.  
   
Yamaguchi laughed. "He doesn't mean Tsukki, he means the rest of the gift. Downstairs with your mother," he told Akiteru. He scratched his head and knelt down to fix whatever had been jostled. There was a little lid for water, a shallow food dish, a plastic bag of freeze-dried crickets, a heat lamp, sand, and plants. And of course there was a lot of room to move around; Yamaguchi told himself that if he'd realized how complicated and expensive this idea was going to be from the start, he never would have gone through with his birthday gift idea. He told himself that, but he was lying. Yamaguchi shot everyone a worried glance. "Do you think he'll like it?"  
   
Akiteru laughed. "You know he's going to, Tadashi. I came home just so I could see Kei have an expression."  
   
"Tsukishima has expressions?" Kageyama asked.  
   
"Nah," Hinata said. "It's like he got Botox as a baby and now he's just forever like this." Hinata put on a bored expression and set his mouth into a perfectly straight line. He was able to hold it like that for about three seconds before cracking up.  
   
Kageyama considered this. "No, sometimes he moves his face if he's being an asshole to someone else. Like this." He did his best impression of Tsukishima's smirk and, honestly, it wasn't that bad.  
   
"So mean," Yamaguchi said and shook his head, but he was grinning.  
   
Then, Yamaguchi suddenly went still.  
   
"Tsukki's awake," Yamaguchi announced.  
   
"What? How do you know?" Hinata asked.  
   
Kageyama's eyes widened. "Maybe Yamaguchi has a tracking device on him."  
   
"Or they're psychically linked." Hinata looked thoughtful. "You two have always been really weird around each other."  
   
"It would explain a lot," Akiteru agreed. He grinned at Yamaguchi. Some people said it was hard to believe that Akiteru was Tsukki's big brother, but Yamaguchi had always thought they were a lot alike. And now that Tsukishima had drive and spent a whole year killing it at volleyball, it was even more obvious. They looked the same when they teased Yamaguchi, too, but even knowing that, Yamaguchi still had definite thoughts about which one of them he'd rather have teasing him. But he didn't have time to dwell on that right then.  
   
"No, dummies," Yamaguchi said. "I can hear him moving around in his room. Come on, don't mess this up." He ushered everyone out of Akiteru's room and back down the stairs. Tsukishima had a routine when he woke up and never deviated from it: first, he hunted around for his glasses and phone, then he hit the bathroom, and then he went right to the kitchen because the only time of day he was ever really hungry was first thing in the morning.  
   
Yamaguchi heard the bathroom door upstairs slam shut just as everyone gathered in the kitchen. He took his gift back from Tsukishima's mother while Akiteru lit a candle that was stuck in a stack of pancakes. By the time he heard Tsukishima stumbling his way downstairs, Yamaguchi was practically vibrating with excitement.  
   
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY," everyone shouted as soon as Tsukishima came into the kitchen. Tsukishima turned right around and started to walk out again.  
   
Yamaguchi started laughing. "Tsukki, no. Wait!"  
   
Tsukishima actually did stop at Yamaguchi's voice, looking back over his shoulder. His eyes flicked down and he seemed to register what Yamaguchi was holding in his hands. "What's that?" he asked, and his voice _shook_ , just a little. So little that Yamaguchi didn't know if even Tsukishima's parents and brother picked up on it. But he did.  
   
"Your present from me," Yamaguchi said. "It's a bearded dragon." He held the lizard up a little higher. "Technically, it's an inland bearded dragon. Well, _technically_ technically, it's a pogo--"  
   
"A pogona," Tsukishima interrupted. He turned back around all the way and stepped in closer to Yamaguchi. His hair was still sleep-rumpled and he was in an old t-shirt and pajama pants, and god, Yamaguchi really should have thought this presentation through more. He was always so careful around Tsukishima, but some things sort of wore down his resolve and morning-Tsukki was one of them.  
   
Yamaguchi swallowed and held the lizard protectively between them. "I wanted—" His voice cracked in a way that it hadn't in a year, and he cleared his throat. "I wanted to get you something that would remind you of dinosaurs. I know chickens are their closest living relatives, but I thought you'd like a bearded dragon more. It's not every day you turn seventeen, after all."  
   
Tsukishima looked down at the bearded dragon and then up to Yamaguchi's face. God. Tsukishima was definitely having an expression.  
   
"I can get you a chicken instead, if you'd like," Yamaguchi finally managed to say.  
   
"No," Tsukishima said, taking the bearded dragon out of Yamaguchi's hands. Their fingers brushed and Yamaguchi had to concentrate very hard on breathing so he wouldn't shiver right there in the kitchen. "It's --" Now Tsukishima had to clear his throat, too. "It's fine." He looked down at the lizard and rubbed two fingers against the top of its head. The lizard closed its eyes happily; Yamaguchi could relate.  
   
"Happy birthday, Tsukki," Yamaguchi said.  
   
"Yeah, happy birthday, Kei!" Akiteru said loudly. Yamaguchi jumped. He kind of forgot anyone else was there. "Now blow out this stupid candle before you get wax-flavored birthday pancakes."  
   
Tsukishima blew out the candle.  
   
"Did you make a wish?" Tsukishima's mother asked.  
   
"Yeah," Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi swore that Tsukki looked at him as he said it, but that was probably just wishful — ha! — thinking on his part.  
   
*  
   
"How's Hachiko?" Yamaguchi asked a few days later, while they were changing after practice. He popped his head through the neck of his undershirt and tugged it down over his stomach; he'd had another growth spurt and his shirts were definitely getting too small, stretching too tightly across his shoulders and clinging to his middle. He'd have to ask his parents to get him some new ones. When Yamaguchi looked over, Tsukishima was watching him and blinking, but not answering. Yamaguchi laughed and waved his hand. "Earth to Tsukki."  
   
Tanaka stuck his head in between them and looked back and forth. "Who's Hachiko?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Your _girlfriend_ , Tsukishima?"  
   
Tsukishima raised one eyebrow. "You think I have a girlfriend named Hachiko? Are you an idiot?"  
   
"It's his lizard!" Hinata piped in.  
   
"My pogona," Tsukishima corrected.  
   
"His bearded dragon," Yamaguchi said, buttoning up his uniform. "The name's a joke. You know, after the legendary loyal dog? My kanji for Tadashi's the same, and I gave Tsukki the lizard for his birthday."  
   
"Pogona."  
   
"Yes, your pogona, Hachiko." Yamaguchi rolled his eyes.  
   
"It's a cute name," Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi stared at him. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard the word cute come out of Tsukishima's mouth, and they'd known each other for seven years. Actually, he could maybe count them on one finger. "Plus, Hachiko and Yamaguchi have the same birthday."  
   
"The dog or the lizard?" Tanaka asked. He scratched his fuzzy head.  
   
At this point, Yamaguchi thought that it might be easier if Tsukishima _did_ have a girlfriend named Hachiko. But as soon as he had the thought, his stomach swooped uncomfortably, like the time he got stuck next to Hinata on a four-hour bus ride.   
   
"Both," Tsukishima said.  
   
Yamaguchi laughed. "Your bearded dragon isn't almost a year old, Tsukki. She's only maybe six months old. At least, that's what the breeder said."  
   
"I changed her birthday so it would be easier to remember."  
   
"You can do that?" Kageyama asked. "I'm going to change my birthday to January first then. One-one!"  
   
"Why do you get to be one-one?" Hinata said. He got up in Kageyama's face and the two of them started growling and pulling at the front of each other's uniforms. But almost as soon as their fight started up, it was over and Hinata was leaving while shouting that he'd be waiting for Kageyama in the gym with Yacchan.   
   
Yamaguchi wondered if the baseball team was more normal. Or maybe tennis. That was a nice solitary sport. "You can't just change someone's birthday," he said.  
   
Tsukishima shrugged. "Try and stop me."  
   
"Maybe later," Yamaguchi said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Are you ready to go?"  
   
"Yep." Tsukishima slung his school bag over his shoulder, and Yamaguchi took a second to admire how cool he looked doing it. He wasn't so much of a follower now, but every once in a while Tsukki still knocked him out with that. Well. Often. He just wasn't as loud about it anymore.   
   
"You said it was easier to remember," Kageyama said. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima both stared at him. Had it taken him that long to digest the conversation? Yamaguchi didn't know what went on inside his head sometimes. "Is the lizard's birthday easier to remember because it's Yamaguchi's, or is Yamaguchi's birthday easier to remember because it's the lizard's?"  
   
Yamaguchi's eyes widened because that hadn't even occurred to him, but Tsukishima looked disgusted. "Obviously, it's the former. I've known Yamaguchi for years and we've spent all of his birthdays since we've met together. It would be pretty terrible if I didn't know when it was." With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the clubhouse.   
   
It took Yamaguchi's heart a moment to reboot before he felt like he could move again. "I'm just gonna —" He waved at the door as he grabbed his bags and ran out. "See everyone tomorrow!"  
   
Tsukishima was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was busy scrolling through his phone, but his headphones were slung around his neck and as soon as Yamaguchi hopped off the landing, he tucked his phone back into his pocket and started walking. "Did you want to come over? You can see how Hachiko's doing."  
   
"Sure," Yamaguchi said. His voice came out a little breathlessly. "That was nice what you said. About my birthday, I mean."  
   
"It's just a fact." Tsukishima's voice was its usual monotone mumble again, but when Yamaguchi looked in his direction, he ducked his head and stared at the ground. "You'd think the one thing that even those morons could work out is that we're friends. It's obvious enough."  
   
Yamaguchi grinned almost as widely as he had on Tsukishima's birthday, when he was watching Tsukishima talk to Hachiko over breakfast and look around periodically like someone was going to swoop in and steal her back at any second. Every once in a while, he'd catch Yamaguchi's eye and Yamaguchi would see something like happiness sweep across his face. The smiles were brief and Hinata probably would question Yamaguchi even calling them smiles, but they definitely were. That was just something Yamaguchi knew about Tsukishima. Knowing Tsukki was kind of his _thing_.  
   
*  
   
Yamaguchi sat on Akiteru's bed and leaned against the wall, watching as Tsukishima lazily tossed cut up pieces of mango into the vivarium from his place at the edge of the bed. "Why are you throwing them into different corners?" Yamaguchi asked. "I know your aim's not that bad."  
   
"We're playing," Tsukishima said. "It gives her a challenge."  
   
Hachiko chewed one of the pieces of mango slowly and watched them both. Yamaguchi got caught up in a staring contest with her for a few moments, but he blinked first and it was over.   
   
"I'm supposed to play with her for an hour a day," Tsukishima said.  
   
Yamaguchi wrinkled up his forehead and wondered if he'd accidentally burdened Tsukishima with more responsibilities. That really hadn't been his intention. "Is that a problem?"  
   
Tsukishima looked over his shoulder at Yamaguchi and shook his head. "Of course not. My mom came in to yell at me last night because I was too busy teaching her a new trick to realize how late it had gotten."  
   
"A new trick?" Yamaguchi grinned. "I didn't know bearded dragons did tricks." He'd done a lot of research into Tsukishima's gift, of course, but mostly about what lizards made the best pets, what their habitats looked like, and where to buy them. Then he begged his parents to pay for half when he realized what he wanted to do was just too much for him to pay for on his own. He'd guessed Tsukishima would take care of the day-to-day details, and it looked like he'd guessed right.  
   
"Pogonas are very intelligent," Tsukishima said. He looked at the bedspread, then Hachiko, then Yamaguchi, and then back down at the bed. If Yamaguchi didn't know any better, he'd swear that Tsukki was feeling shy. "Did you want to see?"  
   
"Tsukki! Did you even need to ask? Of course I do!"  
   
Tsukishima adjusted his glasses and one of his ghost smiles crossed his face; if he wasn't careful, Yamaguchi wouldn't be the only one catching those soon. Kageyama and Hinata might realize he had expressions and feelings, and who knew what chaos would erupt then?   
   
Yamaguchi watched as Tsukishima leaned into the vivarium and scooped Hachiko up. They regarded each other seriously, and it was just too much. Yamaguchi dug out his phone, but missed his chance because Hachiko was slowly walking up Tsukishima's arm, balancing and stepping until she reached his shoulder, where she perched and took a look at the world.  
   
"Ta-da," Tsukishima said, without inflection.  
   
God, Yamaguchi was going to die. Then Hachiko looked at Tsukishima and Tsukishima looked back; _this_ time Yamaguchi was quick enough to get the shot.  
   
Tsukishima raised his eyebrows when he heard the phone's shutter sound go off. "Did you take my picture?"  
   
"Maybe."   
   
"Yamaguchi."  
   
Yamaguchi shrugged at him. "Can't I be proud of my best friend, the pogona trainer? I'm impressed with your skills! I'm not going to post it anywhere," he assured him. "It's just for me."  
   
"I guess it's okay," Tsukishima said. "If it's just for you." Their eyes met and Yamaguchi fought the urge to swallow hard. This was seriously getting ridiculous. "Can I see?"  
   
Yamaguchi nodded and leaned into Tsukishima's space, even though that was a dangerous idea nowadays. The thing about Tsukishima was people always thought of him as really cold, but any time Yamaguchi got near him, he could feel the warmth radiating off of him. He bet Hachiko didn't even need her heat lamp if she was around him long enough. Yamaguchi indulged himself and let their arms press together as he showed Tsukishima the picture on his phone. Tsukishima leaned closer so he could see the picture on the screen, and Yamaguchi made the mistake of looking at Tsukishima's profile. There was just too much to look at: long lashes, the slope of his nose that ended in an upward curve, and then there was his mouth. Yamaguchi quickly looked at his phone again.  
   
"Send it to me," Tsukishima said approvingly. "Hachiko looks good. At least one of us is photogenic."  
   
Yamaguchi rolled his eyes as he tapped on his phone to send the picture, then tucked it away again. "Tsukki, I know you own a mirror," he said. "There's no way you really think that about yourself."   
   
Tsukishima clicked his tongue but didn't say anything else. Hachiko stretched out from Tsukishima's shoulder and made her way over to Yamaguchi's. Then she crawled down his chest and comfortably settled down on his lap. Both of them looked at Hachiko in surprise. Hachiko stretched out her neck and sort of looked like she was smiling, even though that was ridiculous.  
   
"Did you teach her to do that, too?" Yamaguchi asked.   
   
"No." Tsukishima leaned over to rub the top of Hachiko's head. "How would I manage that?" He put his finger underneath Hachiko's chin and tilted it up. "Did you think I said, ‘The next time Yamaguchi's over, make sure you turn him into your own personal couch'?"  
   
Yamaguchi laughed. At least that distracted him momentarily from how close Tsukishima's hands were to his legs and, well, his everything else, as he idly pet Hachiko with long strokes down her back. Okay, and now Yamaguchi was just watching Tsukishima's fingers and wishing they were somewhere else and he was back at square one. He skittered backwards and pressed himself against the wall again, Hachiko still in his lap.   
   
If Tsukishima was surprised by this, he didn't show it. He just sat up straight and asked, "Are you looking forward to Saturday?"  
   
Change of subject. Good, yes. Yamaguchi could definitely do that. "A five hour bus ride? Who wouldn't be?" He shook his head. "But really, yeah. I'm glad we played in for Interhigh and fall Nationals at the same time. It made losing to Dateko at Interhigh a little easier."  
   
Tsukishima smirked. "You got your revenge," he pointed out.   
   
It was true. There were five schools constantly jostling for the top of the Miyagi rankings, Karasuno included. But getting to go to fall Nationals was even better than qualifying for Interhigh or Spring High because only three schools in all of Tohoku got to go. And this year, after beating Wakutani South and Date Tech in prelims, and because of how far they got at Spring High last year, Karasuno was one of them.  
   
In the final match against Dateko, Yamaguchi served in all three sets for a total of twelve points, and four of those points were service aces. After every point, it seemed like Tsukki was the only one to bounce the ball back to the line and every _one more_ out of his mouth made Yamaguchi want to continue his service set forever.  
   
"Something about Date Tech rubs me the wrong way," Yamaguchi said grumpily. He wasn't sure if it was because of how they always had the tallest players, or because of that Iron Wall, or because Koganegawa went to one training camp with Tsukishima and had acted like the two of them were great friends ever since. At least Tsukishima barely seemed to remember him any time they played each other, but Yamaguchi sure did.   
   
He tried to stop his stupid jealous feelings from showing on his face, tilting his head up and closing his eyes as he tried copying the way Tsukishima pet Hachiko earlier. The lizard hadn't left Yamaguchi's lap, and he didn't want to do anything to ruin the delicate balance.  
   
Yamaguchi's eyes flew open again when he heard a shutter click noise. "Tsukki!"  
   
"What? It's just for me." Tsukishima said innocently. Then he added, "And turnabout's fair play."  
   
"Ugh," Yamaguchi said, with feeling. He sighed. "Fine, let me see."  
   
Tsukishima obliged, settling against the wall right next to Yamaguchi so he could show off the picture of Yamaguchi and Hachiko. It was a good one; with his face tilted up toward the light, Yamaguchi looked oddly at peace and Hachiko was looking right at the camera.   
   
"Hachiko's very photogenic," Yamaguchi said. "Send it to me."  
   
As Tsukishima tapped on his phone, Yamaguchi finally realized they were now pressed together from shoulder to ankle on Akiteru's bed. Yamaguchi's face got so hot so fast that he thought he might catch fire.  
   
"It's getting late," Tsukishima said, looking up from his phone. "Did you want to stay here tonight? You can watch me feed Hachiko crickets."  
   
Yamaguchi smiled. "As tempting as a cricket feast sounds, I have to go. My mom's been on my case about coming home on school nights."  
   
That was only kind of a lie. It was true that Yamaguchi's parents watched his grades like hawks, just in case volleyball ever started making them drop, and they also sort of had a curfew for him, but Tsukishima's house had always been their exception. First, Tsukki was a better student, so it wasn't like he was going to mess up Yamaguchi's schoolwork, and second, Tsukishima had been around so long that his parents considered him an extension of their family. They'd helped him pay for all the lizard stuff, for god's sake.   
   
No, the problem was with Yamaguchi and he felt terrible about it. Thinking about Tsukishima at night was enough of a problem when he was alone in his own bed; he didn't need to add sleeping on a futon on Tsukishima's floor or right next door in Akiteru's bed to the mix. He gave in sometimes anyway, of course. Wanting to be around Tsukki sometimes overrode his good sense.  
   
Yamaguchi handed Hachiko back over to Tsukishima, biting his lip when their hands touched. He felt weirdly hot and cold at the same time, and right then Yamaguchi hated his body. He just didn't understand why he couldn't practice getting better at these feelings the way he could practice serving. Visualizing getting over his crush just made him remember all the reasons he had that crush in the first place. Being around Tsukishima more, trying to act normal and like they were just friends made him remember that he hadn't felt like they were _just_ friends in a really long time.   
   
"I'll see you tomorrow morning?" Yamaguchi asked, finally pulling his hands away.  
   
Tsukishima nodded. "Usual time, usual place."


	2. Distractions That Aren't Distracting

On Saturday, the team was meeting so early that it was still dark out, so Yamaguchi's dad had driven him to school. "Morning, sunshine," Yamaguchi said as he walked up.

Tsukishima grunted and pulled his headphones down around his neck. To be fair to him, it really was very, very early, and no one was fully awake yet. But a five-hour drive to Odawara awaited, and Takeda-sensei did his best driving right after his first cup of coffee.

Yamaguchi checked his phone while waiting for everyone to gather. He'd made his background the picture of Tsukishima and Hachiko, and even though that had been a few nights ago, he still couldn't stop looking at it. 

"What are you doing?" Tsukishima asked, peering over.

Yamaguchi hit the lock button fast and tucked his phone away. "Nothing!"

"Nothing?"

"Not really," Yamaguchi said. "Checking out tourist attractions in Kanagawa. I've never been there before."

"Me either. But we're not really going to have time for sightseeing," Tsukishima said. "Unless tourist attractions include the inside of an arena and passing by a pile of Hinata's dirty socks."

Yamaguchi snickered. "Hey, Hinata's socks might bring in some tourist dollars from somewhere. You never know."

"Yeah, from perverts," Tsukishima said.

"Who's a pervert?" Nishinoya butted in. He was so much smaller than either of them that neither had noticed him walk up.

Tsukishima loomed. "You." 

"Aw, Tsukishima, that's sweet of you to say. I didn't know you cared." Nishinoya laughed and slapped Tsukishima on the back, then walked away again to stand in a huddle with the other third years. 

All five of them had made a pact to stick with volleyball through Spring High, just like the third years had last year, and Yamaguchi was glad about it. They really were the glue that held the team together. He couldn't believe he was nearly halfway through his second year already, nearly halfway through all his time at Karasuno. Having the first years call him Yamaguchi-senpai was still kind of startling, and there were _eight_ of them this year, too many to all stand courtside, always around and being so helpful and eager. Thinking about being in Nishinoya's or Tanaka's or Captain Ennoshita's shoes next year made Yamaguchi's stomach hurt, so he shoved those feelings down and away. Getting older sort of sucked.

"We'll have to go again if we want to sightsee," Tsukishima said, shaking Yamaguchi out of his mood.

"Hmm?"

"You know, visit another time."

"You want to go on a sightseeing trip with me, Tsukki? That's so nice!"

Tsukishima shrugged. "Maybe I'll learn to drive next year and the two of us can go on a road trip."

Yamaguchi swallowed at the thought of being stuck in a car with Tsukishima, alone, for hours on end — no other teammates, no family members. He could already picture Tsukishima's long fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, reaching over to casually slap Yamaguchi's hands away every time he tried to mess with the radio. It was way too easy to see them eating in terrible restaurants, and sleeping in crappy hotels or next to each other in the folded down backseat of the car. There was no way Yamaguchi could survive that without trying something stupid, but he also knew that as soon as Tsukishima asked him to go, he would. It was like Yamaguchi was a wire, and every day someone was winding that wire tighter and tighter, just waiting for the day it finally snapped and spun out.

"O— okay," he finally managed. "Let's do it." Yamaguchi shook his head hard. "Uh! A road trip, I mean! That would be really good! I'd love it! Who's taking care of Hachiko while we're at the tournament!" And would he ever stop talking in exclamation points! He scrunched up his eyes and wished the earth would open up and swallow him alive.

"Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi slowly opened one eye. "Yeah, Tsukki?"

"Stop babbling."

"Sorry, Tsukki."

Tsukishima nodded, satisfied. "My parents are taking care of Hachiko. I kind of wanted to sneak her into my bag, but it wouldn't have been good for her well-being. She needs her space."

"Yeah. It would have been cute, though." Yamaguchi smiled at the idea of Hachiko poking her scaly head out of Tsukishima's bag. "You really like her, don't you?"

"Of course," Tsukishima said. "She's the best birthday gift I've ever gotten."

Yamaguchi's eyes widened. How did Tsukishima always _do_ that? No one person should be able to make Yamaguchi's heart thump like that just from being _honest_. And yet.

Then Coach Ukai waved his arms to get everyone's attention, saving Yamaguchi from a lifetime of trying to come up with an appropriate response to one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him.

"Is everyone here?" Ukai asked Yachi. 

Yachi consulted her clipboard and looked up, searching the crowd frantically. "Hinata's not here yet," she said, sounding panicked. "We can't leave without him. The team's doomed!"

"Doomed or relieved?" Tsukishima muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Yamaguchi to hear. Yamaguchi swatted Tsukishima's arm, but he was laughing.

"He's here," Kageyama said, pointing. Hinata was just coming over the hill on his bike, coasting down until he got to the front of the school. There was a smattering of applause when Hinata skidded to a stop.

"Thanks?" Hinata climbed off the bike and scratched his head.

"You're late," Kageyama grunted. 

"Sorry. My little sister stopped me to give me a good luck charm," Hinata said. Yamaguchi could see a paper cutout hanging from a string, wound around Hinata's wrist.

"We were worried," said Kageyama.

"I see the king uses the royal we now," said Tsukishima. Kageyama shot him a dirty look. 

"Everyone shut up," Ukai said. "Hinata's here now, everything's fine. This is one of the most important tournaments we've ever played in, and we're playing Eiwa in the first round. You might remember them from when they lost to Fukurodani in straight sets last spring, but they also got over twenty points in both sets. Losing to last year's lineup from Fukurodani isn't exactly a normal loss."

Yamaguchi remembered. He'd watched that match with Hinata, and Eiwa was the real deal. It was just that Bokuto was a runaway train and hardly anyone could stop him.

"They've got three killer spikers, any of them could be another team's ace, so strong blocking needs to be our first priority. But they've also got holes in their defense that we can exploit. I'm going to change up the starting lineup a bit to take advantage of that," Ukai said.

"Are you benching me?" Tanaka asked. "You're benching me! And this, in my very last year in high school!"

Kinoshita slapped him upside the head. "He's not benching you," he said. He nodded at Ukai and Ukai nodded back. "He's benching me. We already talked about it. I haven't started that much, only since Sawamura-san and Azumane-san graduated, and he wants to keep me in reserve so I know where to aim my serves. I can keep an eye on the other team's weaknesses better if I'm on the sidelines."

Ukai nodded. "Yeah, we need a power server in a pinch, and more consistent blocking. It's great when Tsukishima's in the vanguard, but we could also use two tall middle blockers and a killer serve-and-block combination in the regular rotation."

Yamaguchi's breathing went a little funny as he worked out what Ukai was saying, the gears locking into place. It seemed like Tsukishima had figured it out, too, because he was looking at Yamaguchi with wide eyes. Damn it. Yamaguchi couldn't have a mild freakout while Tsukki was looking at him like _that_ — or rather, he couldn't stand having two freakouts at once. It was just too much to take.

Hinata, on the other hand, had the wrong impression entirely. "Wait, are you benching _me_?" he asked. He sounded about as panicked as Yachi had a second ago. That, at least, took Tsukishima's attention off Yamaguchi.

"No, dummy," Tsukishima said. "He's moving you to wing spiker."

Ukai nodded. "Honestly, it's overdue," he said. "Hinata, are you ready for this? You'll need to receive more, since Nishinoya won't be switching out with you anymore."

Hinata was practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes! I can do it! Wing spiker! Me! Kageyama, did you hear? I won't let any of you down, I promise." He bowed to Ukai, and then turned and bowed to the rest of team. If Yamaguchi's stomach hadn't been trying to crawl out of his throat, he probably would have shot him a thumbs up.

Then Ukai turned to Yamaguchi. "So is this okay with you? You'll get to use your serve more often, but you'll also need to block and receive, and maybe spike, depending on the play. But I think you'll be a good starter, if you're up for it."

"Of course he's up for it," Tsukishima said. "He practices harder than anyone, and he does it all the time."

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. It was all he could manage to say, really, because otherwise he might cry.

"It sounds like he's in," Ukai announced. "Welcome to the starting lineup, Yamaguchi." Another smatter of applause rippled through the group. Ukai pointed to Yachi and Takeda. "Okay, you two, it's in your hands now. Organize these weirdoes."

*

Yamaguchi stared out the window and jiggled his leg nonstop. He was trying to remember the basic rules of volleyball; they felt like a jumble inside his head. It was like he was in elementary school again and practicing receives next to Tsukishima for the first time.

"Stop, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima put his hand on Yamaguchi's knee to hold it still. Yamaguchi, who was already silently panicking, looked down at Tsukishima's hand on his leg and silently panicked some more. "We're going to be stuck on the bus for hours. I want to sleep and I can't if you're going shift around every two seconds." He moved his hand, and Yamaguchi fought the urge to slap it back down and keep it there. 

"Sorry. I can move to another seat if I'm bothering you," Yamaguchi said. 

"No," Tsukishima said quickly, even before Yamaguchi got all his words out. "That's not what I meant. I just — you don't have anything to worry about."

Yamaguchi laughed. "How are you always so calm?"

"I'm not. I don't feel calm a lot of the time," Tsukishima said and stifled a yawn. Yamaguchi didn't know what he'd done to earn this oddly candid Tsukki, but he was okay with it. "Before a match, I usually think about things other than volleyball, or do something to take my mind off of it."

"Do something —"

Tsukishima nodded. "Just a distraction. Anything will do."

Yamaguchi was already feeling plenty distracted by this, and thinking about all the possible ways Tsukishima could continue distracting Yamaguchi was definitely keeping his mind off of the tournament. Tsukishima was turned toward him, his cheek pressed against the headrest, wearing a dreamy, heavy-lidded look like he was on the verge of falling asleep; he was so close that Yamaguchi could feel Tsukishima's breath against his face.

If only they weren't on a bus full of people — if only what Yamaguchi wanted wasn't so outside the bounds of reality. 

"Did you bring your DS with you?" Tsukishima murmured, his eyes fluttering shut. Yamaguchi really did hear his words, but the sleepy delivery still made him swallow reflexively. "You can, I don't know, fight something, evolve some Pokémon. That usually takes all of your attention."

Tsukishima's lack of video game knowledge bordered on hilarious, the one place in their lives where Yamaguchi had always consistently kicked his ass. He didn't mind listening when Yamaguchi rambled on about them, and he'd sometimes watch Yamaguchi play for hours, but he had no aptitude for them himself. He sort of liked matching games on his phone, but even then, he made Yamaguchi get him past the hard parts. 

"That's a good idea," Yamaguchi said. "Thanks, Tsukki."

"Mmm," Tsukishima mumbled. He was already nodding off.

"Take off your glasses," Yamaguchi reminded him.

Tsukishima didn't answer, so Yamaguchi gently hooked his fingers underneath the arms of Tsukishima's glasses and slid them off his face, tucking them into Tsukishima's front pocket. Yamaguchi looked at his face, relaxed in sleep, looking more vulnerable than Tsukishima ever liked being seen.

"Well, I'm distracted now," Yamaguchi said to himself helplessly. He leaned over and dug into his bag for his DS.

He played for a while, and it turned out Tsukishima had been right because of course he was. Yamaguchi started to lose himself in Alola and forgot that he was Karasuno's newest starter, forgot he was on the bus at all until Tsukishima started slumping down in his seat and leaning closer and closer to Yamaguchi, his head landing on Yamaguchi's shoulder and jostling his arm.

Yamaguchi turned his head in surprise and was rewarded by Tsukishima's hair brushing up against his lips. He breathed out and watched as Tsukishima's hair moved. If he leaned in just a little, he could press his mouth to the top of Tsukki's head and if he were careful enough about it, Tsukishima probably wouldn't even wake up. Tsukishima would probably be embarrassed about falling asleep on him later, but Yamaguchi just couldn't do anything to disturb him right now. He closed the lid to his DS and put it in his lap, then let his hand flop in between them.

If he pretended to sleep, he'd have plausible deniability. If he pretended to sleep, he could have this. Yamaguchi stretched out his index and middle fingers, so they were just tapping the back of Tsukishima's hand, and closed his eyes.

Yamaguchi concentrated on Tsukishima's breathing, the in-out of his sleep, and found himself matching pace. All of his worries started melting away, at least for a little while, at least for now. In sleep, Tsukishima radiated calm and Yamaguchi soaked it up like a sponge.

*

"Wake up, sleeping beauties!" yelled Tanaka. "We're here!"

Yamaguchi jerked awake and blinked away his confusion. Tsukishima wore a similar expression, which Yamaguchi took in immediately because his arms were wrapped around Tsukishima's waist and one of his legs was flung over both of Tsukishima's. His DS was trapped in between them.

"Sorry," Yamaguchi said, horrified, scrambling away as quickly as possible and ignoring the way the inside of his leg slid across Tsukishima's lap. Tsukishima still looked stunned.

Tanaka laughed at them. "I have so much blackmail material," he said. 

Nishinoya turned around in his seat and poked his head over the back of his chair. Yamaguchi could only see his shock of bleached hair and his eyes. "You both talk in your sleep," he said.

"We do _not_ ," Yamaguchi said, his face going hot.

"Maybe, maybe not!" Tanaka said gleefully. "But either way, I definitely have photographic evidence of octopus Yamaguchi. Do you have any nature facts about that, Tsukishima?"

Tsukishima's face, hidden behind his glasses again, was so carefully neutral that it swung back around to revealing. God, Tsukki was _embarrassed_ , and it was all Yamaguchi's fault.

"Everyone off the bus. Make sure you check in with Yachi-san before heading inside," Takeda-sensei announced to the team. 

Everyone started gathering up their stuff and filing outside. Tsukishima had been on the aisle, and he started to leave without even looking at Yamaguchi. Without even thinking about it, Yamaguchi reached out and touched his wrist. Tsukishima froze and inhaled so sharply that Yamaguchi could see the rise of his shoulders.

"Hey," Yamaguchi said, once Tsukishima turned around to look at him. "It's okay. It's no big deal. They're harmless, you know that."

Tsukishima started to shake his head, stopped, and nodded.

"But we're good, though, right?" Yamaguchi asked. 

Tsukishima nodded again. "Always."

Yamaguchi breathed out, hard.

*

The match against Eiwa was a tough one, one of the hardest Karasuno had ever faced, and definitely the hardest one Yamaguchi had ever played in. Being a starter was hell on his stamina, and it just made him think of their match last year against Shiratorizawa, everyone going for five sets and barely switching out. How had they all done it? He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't been there himself. He thought of Tsukishima and the block he'd made against Ushijima, about how Tsukki thought that wasn't enough, even though it was amazing. _He_ was amazing. Yamaguchi nearly missed a receive during his service game because he was so busy being angry at Tsukishima all over again. They managed to keep it in play, thanks to a block from Tsukishima, but it was a close call.

"Get your head in the game, Yamaguchi," Kinoshita shouted at him from the sidelines, and Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes. He knew what that meant: _you replaced me so you better not fuck this up_. Well, Yamaguchi was finally playing on even ground with his friends, and he'd be damned if he was about to let that opportunity pass him by. He leapt up to serve, aiming it as far away from Eiwa's libero as he could, hunching down when the other team managed to messily return it. The next time the ball came his way, he called it as he dove for the floor, getting it high into the air, high enough for Kageyama to set it and Hinata to fly up and spike it down.

"Ouch." Yamaguchi winced as he climbed to his feet again. He had red burn marks on his forearms, courtesy of the floor. Those would probably stick around for a while, but he didn't even care because the grin he had on his face was going to stick around for a while, too.

"Yama _gu_ chi!" Nishinoya yelled from the sidelines, where he was waiting to swap in. "That one was even worthy of me."

"Nice receive," Tsukishima called over his shoulder without turning around. "Nice serve." 

Yamaguchi grinned even harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments! I'm glad people other than me are interested in this ridiculousness.


	3. Facetiming Your Lizard Isn't a Euphemism

Ukai treated everyone to soba that night, and Tanaka kept annoying everyone to try his fishcakes. Tsukishima had refused so insistently that Tanaka had resorted to "here comes the airplane!" in an attempt to get him to open his mouth.

Yamaguchi elbowed Tsukishima in the side. "Tsukki, eat it. It's good."

"Do you have any?" Tsukishima asked, holding Tanaka an arm's length away by his forehead.

Yamaguchi nodded and put some of his into Tsukishima's bowl. Tsukishima let go of Tanaka, who promptly crashed into the table, and ate Yamaguchi's extra.

"Tsukishima, you skinny-ass tree, why are you so easy for him?" Tanaka whined.

"You're right, Yamaguchi. It's good," Tsukishima said, ignoring him. 

Everyone was in a great mood that night after getting through the first round in straight sets, but Yamaguchi hadn't forgotten that they made it through two rounds at Spring High before Nekoma knocked them out, too. He wanted to keep playing on the same court as everyone, for as long as he could, but it seemed like everyone's second round jitters had to wait for tomorrow.

Hinata and Yachi sat across from them, Hinata throwing food over the table for Kageyama to catch in his mouth. Yachi shook her head for the thousandth time that day. Yamaguchi thought it was probably hard for her, surrounded by all these guys without even Kiyoko-san for company. 

"Heads-up!" Hinata said. Kageyama opened his mouth again and neatly caught a piece of chicken.

"Is he a trained seal?" Tsukishima wondered.

"One more!" Hinata called, tossing some onion across the table. Kageyama opened his mouth and willingly obliged.

Yamaguchi flickered his eyes from side-to-side and watched the act, chin propped up on his hand. "I don't know about a seal, but he's definitely trained by someone."

Tsukishima laughed quietly. "Why do I have the reputation as the mean one again?" 

"Because you are the mean one, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi said, turning back toward him. "But don't worry, I like mean." He liked it a lot, in fact, something that everyone other than Tsukishima seemed to forget about him. 

He could still remember the first time he realized it. They were at the volleyball club they'd played in as kids and it was one of Yamaguchi's first few times there. Some kid served into the net and the ball bounced one-two-three across the heads of the vanguard before falling to the floor. Tsukishima had mumbled under his breath, something about finally putting those kids out of their misery, and Yamaguchi had doubled over with laughter immediately. Kids their age never talked like that, and it scandalized and delighted him. And Tsukishima had looked so pleased when he realized Yamaguchi was reacting to him.

That was before the Akiteru incident sort of put their friendship off-course for so many years; Tsukishima withdrew and Yamaguchi got desperate in keeping them together. But then he realized he didn't need the desperation. Now he knew that Tsukishima liked him anyway — liked him _more_ , in fact — when Yamaguchi just said whatever was on his mind. 

But he'd always liked how mean Tsukki was. It still scandalized and delighted him.

There was a whoop of laughter at the other end of the table, shaking Yamaguchi out of his memories. Ennoshita and one of the first years, Aiba, were both standing and staring at each other, arms crossed over their chests. Yamaguchi noticed that Aiba had rearranged his hair in a mirror of Ennoshita's, and his expression was exactly the one their captain wore right before Tanaka was about to get it.

"Tanaka, stop having fun," Aiba said, his voice way deeper than the few times Yamaguchi had heard it at practice or standing with him on the sidelines. If Yamaguchi hadn't been staring straight at them, he would have thought it was Ennoshita speaking. "Do you think volleyball is a _game_? Go run for six hours."

Ennoshita's stern face cracked at that, and he started laughing, sitting down again to bury his face in his hands.

"A challenger appears!" Nishinoya shouted in delight.

"The captain is dead, long live the captain!" added Narita. Aiba bowed to the whole table. Tanaka was laughing so hard he was crying, and all of the first years were slapping Aiba on the back.

"Oh god, they're so noisy," Tsukishima said. He shook his head and stood up from the table, walking out into the little vestibule that separated the restaurant from outside.

"What's his problem?" Kageyama wondered.

" _Enthusiasm_ ," Hinata said.

Yamaguchi laughed. "I think Tsukki just reached his limit." 

He gave Tsukishima a few minutes before following him.

"Are you okay?" Yamaguchi asked. Tsukishima was sitting on a little waiting area couch, looking at his phone. When Yamaguchi came out, he seemed to panic a little, but visibly relaxed when he saw it was Yamaguchi. He waved him over and patted the couch next to him.

Tsukishima's father was on the screen, though he wasn't the focus because Hachiko was on his lap, and Tsukishima was talking to her.

"Good night, Hachiko," Tsukishima said solemnly. Hachiko stretched her neck out toward the camera, and Yamaguchi was pretty sure he was about to die from the wave of feeling that crashed over him when he realized what he was witnessing. "Night, Dad," Tsukishima added.

"Good night, Kei," said Tsukishima's dad. "And good night to you, too, Tadashi-kun! Best of luck tomorrow, both of you!"

"Thank you very much," they both recited dutifully, and then Tsukishima cut the call.

Yamaguchi pressed his lips together, trying to stop himself from laughing. "Was all the noise really bothering you, or were you really just that desperate to FaceTime your lizard?"

"Pogona," Tsukishima said, adjusting his glasses. "And two things can be true."

"Well, I'm sure Hachiko misses you, too," Yamaguchi said. He knocked their knees together. "Stop being so cute and get back inside."

"I'm not," Tsukishima said. He disappeared through the doors again.

 _Yes, you really are,_ Yamaguchi thought helplessly, before following him in.

Ukai and Takeda were standing at the head of the table when they came back in. Everyone had visibly settled down, and Yamaguchi gave an apologetic little bow before taking his seat again.

"Tomorrow, we head into round two," Ukai said. "Our challenger is Itachiyama, who won Interhigh, Spring High, and last year's fall Nationals. They're not unbeatable, though. We've had our challenges before and every team has its good days and its bad days."

Takeda nodded at all of them. "Never forget that you're all strong. Individually, you're all wonderful players, but together you form a chain. Remember that if every link in the chain is strong, then the chain is unbreakable." Yamaguchi knew some of Takeda's motivational speeches by heart by now, but even when they were cheesy or too layered in metaphor, he still liked hearing them. He liked being reminded that he was part of something bigger than he was.

"Come on, Karasuno," Ennoshita said, clapping twice. "Let's get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll kick some ass."

This time, Yamaguchi noticed that Tsukishima didn't seem to mind the noise when everyone yelled together.

*

"Sorry," Shimada said, slapping Yamaguchi on the back. Yamaguchi nodded, not trusting himself to speak yet.

"You did great!" Tanaka's sister told him. They'd taken the long drive together to see Karasuno play that afternoon, only to watch them lose and get knocked out of the tournament. "You'll get them next time. Ryuu's all fired up now."

"Your serve was amazing," Shimada added. "Way better than mine ever was. And I know you hate hearing this, but it was a good match even if you lost. You all played your hardest and everyone could tell. Pushing Itachiyama into three sets isn't anything to be disappointed over."

"Okay," Yamaguchi said, and he had been right about not trusting his voice because his throat closed up and tears started welling up. He blinked them away as he walked off toward the bathroom, not wanting to be in the arena when they started setting up for the next round of matches. 

Damn it. At Spring High, at least they made it to the third round. This was devastating.

Yamaguchi slapped his hand against the men's room door and kicked his foot out. He wanted to yell and break things. Why did they all keep doing this to themselves? Why did people always want to do things that might hurt them in the end? The door to the bathroom swung closed behind him.

Tsukishima was in there already, alone and hunched over the sink, his sports goggles pulled down around his neck, his hair damp from where he'd probably doused it under the tap. Yamaguchi knew the beginning of this scene already, but how did it end when Yamaguchi was angry at himself, too?

To his surprise, though, Tsukishima didn't look mad. He just glanced over at Yamaguchi and said, "We'll get them in the spring."

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi said brokenly, and to his horror, his tears spilled over then and once they started, he couldn't stop them, great heaving gasps that twisted him up and wrung him out. He covered his face in embarrassment. Why did having feelings have to be so _hard_?

"Hey," Tsukishima said, and suddenly his voice was a lot closer. Yamaguchi felt fingers wrap around his wrists and he only struggled for a second before letting Tsukishima pull his hands down. "It's okay—" Tsukishima started, and then stopped. He seemed to be hunting around for the words he wanted. "I'm sad, too," he finally said. "But we get up and keep going, right?"

Yamaguchi looked up and met Tsukishima's eyes. 

"This is only the end of one thing," Tsukishima continued. "We'll try harder, get better, and come back even stronger, okay? You, me, everyone."

"Who _are_ you?" Yamaguchi said, making a crazed sound halfway between a laugh and a sob.

"Ah." Tsukishima let go of Yamaguchi's wrists and ran his thumb over Yamaguchi's cheeks, wiping the tears from his face. "I used to be someone who didn't care about much — or at least I pretended I didn't. But one time, someone smart told me that trying to get things we wanted was cool and we didn't need a reason other than that to do it. Then another time, he told me to stop feeling sorry for myself when I'd done well." He raised his eyebrows. "Well, actually, to be specific, he _yelled_ at me both times."

"Sounds like a great guy," Yamaguchi said, shuddering out a breath. 

"The greatest," Tsukishima agreed. He still had his fingers on Yamaguchi's face. He hesitated for just a moment, then ran them down the side of Yamaguchi's jaw, tilting his chin up. They stared at each other for a beat; Tsukishima's face went a little pink and Yamaguchi's heart started thumping so hard that he was afraid Tsukishima could see it through his jersey. "You were amazing out there, Tadashi," Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi's eyes widened, just as Tsukishima started to lean in.

Ukai shoved the door open. "Karasuno!" he shouted. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi jumped away from each other like they'd been burned. "Hi," Ukai said, waving to them both. "What are you two still doing in here? Go get your butts outside, so we can regroup and decompress together."

Yamaguchi found his voice first. "Sure," he said. "We'll be there in a second."

"Good!" Ukai left, letting the door swing close again.

Tsukishima had his eyes closed. Yamaguchi watched as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 _Hey,_ he wanted to say. _Put your hands back on me. Do whatever it was you wanted to do. I'll let you. I'll let you do whatever you want._ But his mouth felt glued shut.

Tsukishima opened his eyes again, and stared at him so intensely that Yamaguchi gulped. "Ready to head back out there?" Tsukishima asked.

"Sure, Tsukki," Yamaguchi said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm mean. But I've really liked everyone's feedback! Thank you so much!


	4. Words Are Our Friends

They were heading back home in the morning, so Ukai let the third years pick where they went for dinner that night. "What are you in the mood for?" he asked. "Please remember that your coach is on a budget, and that your school is cheap as hell."

"Ukai-kun," Takeda admonished him.

"What?" Ukai said. "You'd think the administrators of a freaking high school would know how much teenaged boys can put away and compensate us accordingly."

"I don't eat that much," Tsukishima said.

"You don't eat –" Ukai threw his hands up. "Well, you _should_. Look at you, you're like the world's tallest twig."

"Coach Ukai," Ennoshita interrupted, "we just want fast food."

"I don't know if that's the healthiest choice," Takeda said.

"Burgers!" Tanaka said, ignoring Takeda. "Big ones, as big as our heads!"

"With lots of cheese," Kinoshita added.

"Fried chicken," Narita said.

"And fries!" Nishinoya finished. "Health is overrated."

" _Grease_ ," Tanaka said, emphatically. "Let us lick our wounds in the least advisable way possible."

"Please," Ennoshita finished.

*

The restaurant was crowded when they arrived. There were at least two other teams drowning their sorrows just like Karasuno and one team was celebrating. A couple of guys waved at the girls from Niiyama, who'd made it through to the third round.

"Tanaka," Nishinoya said, elbowing him. "Isn't that the school where your giiiiiiiiirlfrieeeeeeend goes?"

Tanaka laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "She's not my girlfriend. We're both just so busy." Then Amanai Kanoka from Niiyama bounced over to Tanaka and started chatting a mile a minute as both she and Tanaka grew steadily redder.

Tsukishima tugged Yamaguchi's shirt sleeve, pulling him away from the rest of the team, and shook his head. "Disgusting," he said.

"I think it's sweet," Yamaguchi said.

"Tanaka-san doesn't wear sweet well," Tsukishima said.

"No?" Yamaguchi said. "Who does, then?"

Tsukishima didn't answer but his cheeks went faintly pink, and Yamaguchi was again reminded of after the match. Not that he'd really _stopped_ thinking about it. He looked down at his feet.

"Yo, Karasuno," Ukai said, standing on a chair. "Everyone get tables wherever you can, and we'll come around to get your orders. Get a move on."

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima wound up sitting by themselves, separated from everyone else. It really was crowded, but Yamaguchi thought they probably could have gotten seats closer to the rest of the team. It was kind of nice, though, being on their own – well, as on their own as they could be with Hinata waving frantically at him across the restaurant every five minutes.

Once they had their food, Tsukishima said, out of the blue, "Your birthday's coming up."

"What?" Yamaguchi said, spilling his fries out onto his tray. "My birthday? That's still like a month away."

Tsukishima shrugged and shook out some fries onto his own tray before passing the rest of his over to Yamaguchi. "That's close, though." He rested his chin on his hand and tilted his head, which was a really good look for him. Though, of course as far as Yamaguchi was concerned, Tsukishima didn't really have a bad look. "Have you given any thought to what you want?"

"Tsukki, it's a month away!" Yamaguchi said, shaking his head. "Who thinks that far ahead? We have prelims for Spring High before that."

"Still, it's not every day you turn seventeen," Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi sucked in a little breath, hearing his own words echoed back at him. "There has to be something you want."

Yamaguchi shoved half of his burger into his mouth so he didn't blurt out, _You_. Now that he'd moved on a little from the aftermath of the match, he could only focus his thoughts on the memory of Tsukishima talking him down, of his hands on his wrists, his fingers on his face. Yamaguchi chewed and swallowed. "I don't know, honestly. Nothing really. I probably just want to play Pokémon and hang out with you. Hachiko can come, since it's her birthday, too, right?"

Tsukishima smiled a little at that. "Right. That can definitely be arranged."

"Good! Now can you please stop being such a weirdo?"

"Never," Tsukishima said, and stood up from the table. "Be right back, I have to get some napkins."

Yamaguchi tilted his head and watched as he walked away, then realized what he was doing and looked down at the table. It wasn't Yamaguchi's fault that Tsukishima looked the way he did in jeans, but he probably could control himself a little better. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered texts from his mom and Akiteru, saying they were sorry about the loss. Akiteru told him to keep an eye on Tsukishima for him, too, which of course he was already doing – though probably not in the way Akiteru meant.

Then, distantly, Yamaguchi heard a girl's voice ask, "You're Tsukishima-san from Karasuno, right?"

Yamaguchi looked up. Tsukishima was standing near the napkin dispensers, sort of stuck where he was because of the crowd. A pretty girl was standing next to him. She was probably Yamaguchi's height, or maybe even a little bit taller, with straight, dark hair that hung to the middle of her back and eyes that were striking enough that Yamaguchi noticed them even from where he was sitting. 

"I'm Nakamura Hikari, from Niiyama. I play middle blocker, too."

"That's nice," Tsukishima said.

"I saw your match today, and I have to say, you've definitely got something." Nakamura-san crossed her arms over her chest. "Though if you were on my team, I'd have you working on everything other than blocking more. You definitely have the makings of a good all-rounder."

Tsukishima exhaled. "I see." 

"If you ever wanted any pointers, let me know. We go to school nearby, after all," she said. "I'm captain this year, but I've been to nationals with my team every year, including middle school."

Tsukishima didn't reply right away. "Every year?" said Tsukishima eventually. 

"Every year," Nakamura-san confirmed. 

"Okay. Maybe."

"Great! Give me your phone, I'll put my number in for you."

Yamaguchi watched as Tsukishima messed with his phone for a second and passed it over. He pressed his lips together and looked down at his own phone. This wasn't a big deal, he told himself. Tsukishima had gotten help from people from other teams before, and Niiyama being a girls' team shouldn't matter. This was no different than when he practiced with Kuroo from Nekoma, or went along with Akiteru to his league practices. But what if it was a big deal? Yamaguchi didn't know if he had any right to worry over that.

When Yamaguchi looked up again, Nakamura was handing Tsukishima his phone back. "I just texted myself from your phone, so now I have your number, too!" Then she walked off back toward her friends; Tsukishima looked pretty mystified over the whole incident. 

Nishinoya and Hinata materialized out of nowhere, mischievous expressions on both of their faces. Tsukishima looked at both of them, and put up one hand. "No," he told them and started to push through the crowd, back toward the table.

"Aw, come on," Nishinoya said, following behind. "We'll be nice."

"Yeah, really nice! Just like that girl from Niiyama was to you." Hinata poked Tsukishima, and Tsukishima swatted his hand away.

"There's literally nothing to comment on," Tsukishima said, pushing up his glasses as the parade reached Yamaguchi again. "She's good at volleyball and offered to help. She's the captain of a powerhouse, that's _all_." 

"Ooh, the captain!" Hinata said appreciatively.

"Yeah, an older woman. Worldly!" said Nishinoya. He really had a way of boiling things down to their essentials.

"She's a year older and a high school student," Tsukishima said. "Are you worldly? No. It's not a big deal." He gave Yamaguchi an imploring look.

"She did give you her phone number," Yamaguchi pointed out. He stared down at his food again.

Nishinoya's started punching Tsukishima's side rapidly. "You got one of the queens' numbers, and you weren't even going to mention it? _Tsukishima_. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship! A story you can tell your freakishly tall children!"

Tsukishima snorted. "I really doubt it," he said. "In fact, I'd place the odds at around zero."

"You sell yourself too short," Yamaguchi said. He thought about all the girls who asked him about Tsukishima, about how it started in middle school and how it hadn't let up once they got to Karasuno. About how a year ago, a girl from class three cornered him just outside the clubhouse and started grilling him about everything Tsukishima liked, and how Yamaguchi had gotten mad, so mad, because he knew the answers to all of her questions already and he didn't think she had any right to them. She didn't even _know_ Tsukishima. About how that was when he figured out what was going on with him – all those times he'd been jealous when girls wanted to talk about Tsukki wasn't him being jealous of _Tsukishima_. About how it had been eating him up inside for nearly a year, and how not saying anything was getting harder and harder every day. "You don't even know if it's just about volleyball," Yamaguchi added.

Hinata nodded vigorously. "Yeah, give her a chance, Tsukishima. It's possible she might be a weirdo who likes you for your personality! No offense, Yamaguchi!"

" _Go away_ ," Tsukishima growled at Nishinoya and Hinata, so forcefully that they both flinched and ran off. "It's just volleyball," he told Yamaguchi.

"It's not any of my business if it's not," Yamaguchi said. The blue and white tile edging on the table was really ugly.

"Isn't it?" Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi finally looked up, but he didn't know what to say to that.

*

That night, Yamaguchi couldn't get to sleep. He was so tired for so many reasons, and he was usually a pretty easy sleeper, but that night he couldn't seem to do anything but lie on his futon and listen to his teammates fall asleep around him. He tried to remember the relaxation techniques he knew, like breathing in for a count of five and out for ten, or tensing up a muscle group and slowly letting it relax again, but those didn't help either. Maybe he was doing it wrong.

In the end, he just wound up closing his eyes and trying to breathe as deeply and evenly as he could without feeling weird about it.

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima whispered to him in the darkness, "are you awake?" 

So Yamaguchi wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. He didn't know why he didn't just open his eyes and say yes. He'd had a lot of fantasies that started out this way, the two of them awake and quiet, the only ones conscious while the world slept around them. But he thought a lot of the reason he was awake wasn't because he was still thinking about the lost match, he thought it was because of Tsukishima. There was the thing in the bathroom, and the other thing in the restaurant. And then there was the thing on the bus, and a thousand other little things, too, and all of them ended with Yamaguchi hoping too hard and wanting too much. So he focused on his breathing. 

Tsukishima made a frustrated noise and Yamaguchi could feel him shifting closer. Yamaguchi almost gasped when he felt Tsukishima's fingers touch the inside of his wrist, over the covers, but he forced himself to keep his breathing even. 

In. Out. In again.

Tsukishima's touch was feather-light, hesitant, a barely there press that left trails of fire all across Yamaguchi's skin. He slowly dragged one fingernail up to the crook of Yamaguchi's elbow and then down to his palm, tracing what felt like a figure-eight, before repeating the movement up to Yamaguchi's elbow and back down to his wrist. He didn't move again, but kept two fingers against Yamaguchi's skin.

Yamaguchi couldn't remember Tsukishima ever touching him so deliberately in the daylight, something more than proximity because their heads were bent over the same book or because Yamaguchi was fidgeting. He fought the urge to bite his lip and the urge to bite _Tsukishima's_ lip. He was glad it was dark because his face had to be bright red, and he was glad most of him was covered by a blanket because he was embarrassed that he'd gotten so turned on by so little. But it never took much where Tsukki was concerned.

Next to him, Tsukishima let out a shaky exhale, like he could hear Yamaguchi's thoughts. 

"I want —" Tsukishima said in a low voice, and then stopped. "Sometimes I think you— but other times, you don't—" 

_What? What?_ Yamaguchi thought, pretty sure his breathing was no longer deep or even. 

"This is ridiculous," Tsukishima muttered to himself, and rolled away. 

_Breathe in for a count of five_ , Yamaguchi told himself. _Breathe out for a count of ten_. His skin burned where Tsukishima had touched him, and he still couldn't get to sleep.

*

When they got back home from the tournament, it seemed like things went back to normal. Tsukishima waited for Yamaguchi so they could walk to morning practice together, and Yamaguchi grabbed Tsukishima for lunch every day at their break. They trained for Spring High, and did their homework together some days, and Yamaguchi learned all about Hachiko's favorite foods and laughed at how serious Tsukishima got when he showed Yamaguchi the right way to feed her or to make sure she had enough sand in her vivarium. 

Yamaguchi didn't fall asleep on Tsukishima, or try cornering him in the bathroom to see what might happen had Ukai not interrupted them, and he absolutely didn't ask anything about the girl from Niiyama. 

Everything was fine, until it wasn't.

"Everyone hurry up," Ennoshita announced in the clubhouse the next Thursday. "You think Itachiyama dawdles before practice?"

"Probably," Kinoshita said.

"Everyone does sometimes," Narita said. Two of the first years laughed behind their hands, trying to avoid their captain's wrath.

Ennoshita narrowed his eyes. "We're doing receives the whole time," he said. The whole club groaned, except for Nishinoya and the one first-year libero he was training to be his successor.

"Chikara, where's Ryuu?" Nishinoya asked. "I haven't seen him since this morning and we usually walk over to club together."

"And Tsukishima's missing, too!" Hinata added. "Yamaguchi, where is he?"

Yamaguchi blinked and looked around. How out of it had he been? He hadn't even noticed that Tsukki wasn't there. "I don't know," he said, and half of the room gasped collectively. "Come on. I'm not his keeper!"

"It's okay, Yamaguchi. I know where he is," Ennoshita said. "Tsukishima and Tanaka were invited by Niiyama Joshi to a special practice session this afternoon. I gave them both permission to attend, since it's still volleyball practice anyway. I think Tanaka's sister was taking them over."

"What?" Nishinoya said. "You mean practicing with a bunch of hot babes has always been on the table, and I'm stuck here with you jerks? This sucks. Have you seen the Niiyama girls in their uniforms? Stupid lucky Ryuu! Stupid lucky Tsukishima!"

At that, Yamaguchi had to turn and stare inside his locker because a wave of jealousy washed over him so fast and hard that he couldn't disguise it quickly enough. So not only did Tsukishima have practice at another school, which he didn't tell Yamaguchi about, with a team full of girls who were all probably better at volleyball than Yamaguchi, but someone else on the team knew about it far enough in advance that they were traveling together. 

"I knew that Niiyama girl liked Tsukishima," Hinata said. "I could tell when they were talking in that restaurant in Odawara. Though I still don't get why anyone would like Tsukishima like _that_. Oh! But lots of girls like him, though, right, Yamaguchi? I remember you telling me that once."

Yamaguchi gripped his locker door.

"Stop talking," Kageyama said. "You need to practice."

"Oh right!" Hinata's voice brightened considerably. "Volleyball!" 

One by one, the rest of the team left the clubhouse. When everyone else was gone, Yamaguchi slammed his locker, slapped his palm against the metal, and yelled into a towel, a long broken sound that wound up hurting his throat. Then he dumped his whole water bottle over his head, which finally snapped him out of it. Yamaguchi left the clubhouse and stalked into practice, and if anyone noticed that his head and uniform were soaked, they didn't comment on it.

Yamaguchi had one of the best practices of his life. He was so _focused_ ; it felt like he was alone on the court with the ball. He jumped higher than he ever had, he was able to keep up with and spike one of Kageyama's fast tosses, and when it was his time to serve, he didn't use his usual jump floater. He sailed in the air for his jump and slapped it down so hard that two of the guys playing for the other side had to jump out of the way. 

On the sidelines, Ukai whistled and Yachi gasped, "Yamaguchi-kun!" in surprise. 

Yamaguchi glanced over at them, pushed his hair out of his face, and put out his hands. "One more," he said.

*

The walk home alone was lonely, even though Yamaguchi knew how ridiculous that thought was. It was one stupid day. He kept looking over, knowing that he wasn't going to see Tsukishima, but still expecting to see Tsukishima. He knew Tsukki wasn't the sun, but sometimes his gravitational pull was so strong that Yamaguchi didn't understand it. Which was stupid, now that he thought of it that way. And besides, it wasn't like everyone was pulled into Tsukki's orbit, it was really just him. He revised his stupid indulgent poetry: Yamaguchi was a weak little satellite orbiting the moon.

And then he got mad at himself because that was wrong, too. He never wanted to be a satellite, did he? He wanted them to be on equal footing. He wanted them to play on the same level. He didn't want to lose Tsukishima to some dumb crush.

Yamaguchi didn't want to go home. He felt too restless and didn't know where to direct his energy even after his long practice, and found himself heading to Shimada Mart.

"Tadashi!" Shimada said when Yamaguchi came into the store. "Hold on, let me get someone to cover for me up front."

Yamaguchi bit his tongue to stop his automatic response of ‘please don't bother, it's not important,' and nodded. He headed outside, behind the store, and Shimada joined him a couple of minutes later.

"Ah, thank you for saving me," Shimada said. "It's been a day. We had a super sale on pork shoulder, and the little old ladies nearly got into a fist fight over it."

"Really?" Yamaguchi's eyes widened.

Shimada laughed. "No, not really. But those sale lovers can get serious. You never know when a meat fight might break out."

Yamaguchi snickered. "A meat fight?"

"Yeah, I knew how it sounded as soon as I said it," Shimada said. "So! What brings you here? You haven't been around in a while."

Yamaguchi nodded. "I– I landed a really powerful jump serve during practice today, and I think – I don't even know!" Yamaguchi scratched his head. "I think I just wanted to tell you about it."

Shimada smiled. "Well, that's good because if you wanted help with it, I don't even know that I could! You've turned into a great server, Tadashi, one of those guys that makes the other team nervous. I hear it all the time when I'm in the stands."

"Also, uh." Yamaguchi got mad at himself for not just spitting out his words. "Uh, I didn't know who else to tell. I didn't know who else would be happy for me."

Shimada's eyebrows went up at that. "No one else? Not your team, not your coach?" He paused. "Not Tsukishima-kun?"

Yamaguchi pressed his mouth into a straight line. "Tsukishima wasn't at practice today," he mumbled. "He got invited to go practice at one of the girls' schools. By their captain."

"Oh. Oh!" Shimada said. Then, " _oh_." All of his ohs sounded different. "Did you want to go, too?"

"No!" Yamaguchi said. He sat on a wooden crate and leaned over, propping his head up in his hands. "I don't need to do everything Tsukki does. He, uh, he didn't tell me about it." He laughed, and it came out as a short little bitter sound. "He still hasn't told me about it, even though he knows I know by now. No texts or emails or whatever. But I haven't talked to him, either."

"I take it that bothers you."

"Yeah."

"Why do you think that is?" Shimada asked. He tilted his head to one side.

He was going to say _I don't know_ , but why go out of his way to talk to Shimada if he was just going to lie? "Because I'm afraid he's going to get a girlfriend and leave me."

Shimada laughed. "Yamaguchi, I've seen you two together. Tsukishima isn't going to forget about you if he has a girlfriend."

Yamaguchi looked up at Shimada. "Then maybe I'm just afraid about the girlfriend part." He swallowed hard. That was the first time he'd gotten close to saying it out loud, even though it was a constant drone inside his head.

If Shimada was surprised by his admission, he didn't show it on his face. "Well. Then it sounds like I'm not the one you should be talking to."

Yamaguchi rubbed his face. "It's hard," he confessed.

"I know," Shimada said. "But you're brave, Tadashi. I've never doubted that for a second."

Yamaguchi's phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Tsukishima. All it said was _Practice is boring without you_ , but Yamaguchi's heart soared anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about making them suffer, but needless to say the Niiyama team are all very nice girls, Tsukishima needs to learn to use his words when everyone is awake, and Yamaguchi's not very good at reading between the lines.
> 
> Thank you for all your comments and kudos. They've been so sweet!


	5. Be a Bro

Tsukishima was waiting for him in the usual spot the next day. Which was a relief, sort of. He hadn't ignored Tsukishima's text the night before, but he did kind of shut down the conversation before it got started with a "then I'll see you there tomorrow," which he knew was an ambiguous answer. But the truth was he didn't want to hash things out over text, or even on the phone, and Yamaguchi could see himself doing something reckless like sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night so he could see Tsukki face-to-face.

"Hey," Tsukishima said, like usual, hands jammed deep into his pockets. Probably no one other than Yamaguchi could tell, but he was worried. There was a little crease in between his eyebrows and he was slouching more than usual.

Yamaguchi gave him a little smile. "Hi, stranger."

Then Tsukishima said, "I'm sorry," just as Yamaguchi said, "You could have just told me." And then Yamaguchi said, "What?" just as Tsukishima said, "I know."

Then Yamaguchi started laughing and held up his hands. "One at a time, Tsukki," he said. He tugged Tsukishima's jacket sleeve and started walking. He hadn't done that since they were little kids. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Tsukishima wrung his hands a little, but allowed himself to be tugged along and, Yamaguchi noticed, didn't pull away from Yamaguchi's grip. And Yamaguchi didn't let go of Tsukishima's jacket, even though there was no reason for him to still hold onto it. Yamaguchi could tell there was stuff that Tsukishima wanted to say, but he was so bad at just spitting important things out. They were alike that way, though with Yamaguchi, eventually the things bubbled over and he had to say them. Tsukishima wasn't like that and sometimes Yamaguchi wondered how he didn't just explode over how much he kept locked up inside him.

"I should have told you about the practice," Tsukishima said, when they were already most of the way to school.

"Why didn't you?" Yamaguchi asked. He finally let go of Tsukishima's jacket.

Tsukishima stopped walking. "It's stupid."

"Tell me anyway," Yamaguchi said. He stopped walking, too, and turned to face Tsukishima. A couple of people passed by them on the road, and Yamaguchi wondered if they were making a scene, but decided that he didn't care if they were.

Tsukishima sighed. "When I first met Nakamura-san, you looked sort of weird after."

Yamaguchi blinked. "Thanks?"

"Damn it," Tsukishima muttered to himself. "Not bad weird. Just not like yourself. And sad, sort of, and I – I didn't want to make you look like that again."

"So you thought it would be better for me to just hear it from Ennoshita-san five minutes before practice started because I looked sad-weird one time?" Yamaguchi asked. "You shouldn't feel like you have to hide things from me."

Shimada's _it sounds like I'm not the one you should be talking to_ echoed in his head, and he kind of understood where Tsukishima had been coming from. It had always been hard saying what was on his mind when he wasn't sure how the other person would react.

"I know," Tsukishima said. "I told you, it was stupid. I might go practice with them again."

"Okay," Yamaguchi said, and now _he_ felt stupid because his stomach dropped at that. He forced himself to meet Tsukishima's eyes, and it was funny that Tsukishima said Yamaguchi had looked sad-weird because now Tsukki seemed to fit that, too. "Did you learn a lot?"

Tsukishima brightened a little and nodded. "If you watch me today, you'll see."

Yamaguchi almost snorted at that. He had to be kidding. Didn't Tsukishima know that Yamaguchi always watched him? He had to know; _everyone_ knew. "I'll watch you whenever I'm not trying to hit the ball, okay?"

"I'll take it," Tsukishima said.

*

"Ah, here he is!" Tanaka announced when Yamaguchi and Tsukishima came into the gym. "The most awkward volleyball player in Miyagi."

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses and stood up straight, drawing himself to his full height. "How could you even tell, Tanaka-senpai?" he asked innocently. "Weren't you too busy falling over your tongue every time Amanai-san tried to talk to you?"

Tanaka gave Tsukishima the finger. "This guy is the worst. He had at least five girls trying to talk to him and being all cute." At this, Tanaka folded his hands in front of himself and batted his eyelashes, which Yamaguchi guessed was his approximation of a cute girl. "And you know what he did?" Tanaka continued. Tsukishima shrugged and gave him a broad _please, continue_ gesture. "He told the cutest one that his friend Yamaguchi would look good with her hairstyle."

"What?" Yamaguchi blurted out, before he could stop himself.

"She had this half-ponytail thing and freckles," Tsukishima said, not offering any more explanation while the tips of his ears turned pink. Now it was his turn to focus somewhere over Yamaguchi's shoulder. Yamaguchi ran one hand through his hair; he never really thought about it much, not growing it long or whatever, but maybe Tsukishima did. The very idea of it made his toes curl inside his shoes.

"Yeah, be flattered," Tanaka said. "He talks about you a lot – when he talked around those girls at all, which was basically never." Yamaguchi felt his face going hot at that, but it was okay. All the sadness and anger from the day before had been replaced now with these warm, swoopy feelings. He hoped his expression wasn't too dopey. 

"I'm sorry I went to volleyball practice to play volleyball," Tsukishima said. He glanced at Yamaguchi then, and Yamaguchi noticed the tiniest smile appear and disappear on his face. Yep, Yamaguchi must have looked _really_ dopey to get that kind of reaction, but as it turned out, he _really_ didn't care.

Ennoshita blew a whistle. Everyone jumped. "And what a great idea playing volleyball is! Why don't we try that now?"

The whole team sort of mumbled, "Yes, captain," and broke themselves into two groups for a scrimmage. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi wound up on opposite sides, facing each other at the vanguard for the first rotation.

"Don't forget, you said you'd watch me," Tsukishima reminded him.

"Eyes on the ball, Tsukki," Yamaguchi shot back, sounding pretty confident for someone who was dying inside.

Kageyama served for Yamaguchi's side, and everyone gasped as Tanaka slid and planted and received Kageyama's serve as well as Nishinoya ever did. The ball headed right to Tsukishima who jumped higher than he even had at Nationals last year – when Kageyama kept pushing him into higher and higher jumps – and spiked the ball right between Hinata and one of the first years. It hit the ground with as much force as Yamaguchi's serve had the day before and ricocheted crazily off the floor.

"WHOA," Hinata yelled. His eyes were huge. "So cool! What the hell, Tsukishima?"

Yamaguchi had a little trouble breathing after that. And if Tsukki kept moves like that up, Yamaguchi would have trouble walking in about two minutes, too.

The rotation continued, and everyone seemed pretty fired up for a Friday morning. Tsukishima and Tanaka's team were leading the set, even though Hinata and Kageyama were both on the other side and Nishinoya was playing libero for them. When it was Tsukishima's time to serve, Yamaguchi noticed he put a little more power into it, even though it was definitely still a major weakness in his play. Yamaguchi's team took advantage of that, Kageyama easily setting so Hinata could do his thing. Hinata leapt up, and connected easily, a beautiful quick that would blast by most teams. Yamaguchi didn't expect the other team to get it because it was heading right for Tsukishima and, for all of his talents in volleyball, he still hated receiving.

But then Tsukishima was right under it, his receiving form so much better than it usually was, and he got the ball up in the air. Aiba set it up for Tanaka, and Tanaka spiked it down on the other side, mostly because Yamaguchi was still so distracted.

Tsukishima was rubbing his arms right where the spike had hit it, but he was smirking and looking right at Yamaguchi.

_I'm watching, Tsukki_ , Yamaguchi thought. Oh god, was he ever.

*

After, when they were getting dressed in their school uniforms for class, Yamaguchi noticed that Tsukishima's forearms were still red from where Hinata's spike had hit him. He hesitated, then reached out and ran one fingernail over Tsukishima's arm, from his wrist up to his elbow and back again, just like Tsukishima had when he thought Yamaguchi was asleep. Tsukishima froze, and when Yamaguchi looked at his face, he was red across his cheeks and nose.

"Yamaguchi." Tsukishima cleared his throat. "Can I please put my shirt on now?"

Yamaguchi's eyes widened because he hadn't even thought about just reaching over and manhandling Tsukki when he was getting dressed, but now that he realized, he couldn't stop staring at Tsukishima's chest. He jumped back and turned away. 

"Of course!" he said, suddenly becoming fascinated with the contents of his locker. "That was a great receive. During practice, I mean."

Tanaka threw himself dramatically in between them and sighed. "I can't stop thinking about how much better that practice would have been if you weren't there, Tsukishima," he said.

"Why are we still talking about this?" Tsukishima asked, but Tanaka ignored him.

"Just me and all of those hot girls, admiring my skill." Tanaka pitched his voice really high, "Oh Tanaka-san, show me how to spike! Oh Tanaka-san, come stand behind me and guide me while I serve!"

"If you love being alone with girls so much, why did you make me stand there while you asked your girlfriend out on a date?" Tsukishima asked.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Tsukishima snorted. "Well, you'd better tell her that because not only do I know what stupid movie you're going to tomorrow night, but I also had to watch when she kissed you on the cheek. I was trying to wait with your sister in the truck, but you asked me to – and I quote – be a bro."

Yamaguchi burst out laughing. "You wanted Tsukki to be your bro? That's sweet, Tanaka-senpai."

"Luckily, Nakamura-san pulled me away just as they started baby-talking to each other because I'd probably still be throwing up otherwise."

Ah. The captain again. Yamaguchi braced himself for his fizzy warm feelings to go flat.

"You're useless, Tsukishima! Completely useless," Tanaka said, and stalked off.

"Why did Nakamura-san pull you away?" Yamaguchi asked tentatively, after Tanaka left. He slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Tsukishima asked. "Oh. It was nothing. She wanted to introduce me to her girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Yamaguchi asked. He was caught by surprise and he knew it showed up in his voice.

"Yes. I'm told she's on the field hockey team at Niiyama and they've been friends since they were small. It was fine." Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "I don't know why so many people want me involved in their romances."

Yamaguchi snorted. He didn't know the half of it.

"But Nakamura-san's okay. She drilled me on receives and corrected my form. She didn't even react when I kept complaining." Tsukishima shrugged. "We have a lot in common, I guess."

"Like what?"

"She has a pet lizard, though I think it's a gecko. And she thinks Tanaka is annoying, too," Tsukishima said, and Yamaguchi laughed. "And… other stuff she guessed about me. I don't know. We're a lot alike, is all. Anyway, she told me she'd help me with my serving next time."

"I can help you with your serving, too!" Yamaguchi said.

"Really?" Tsukishima asked.

Yamaguchi shrugged. "I've never taught anyone else, but it can't hurt, right?" He brightened. "I can be like your senpai."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Tsukki, don't be mean!"

"I'm not." Tsukishima picked up his bag and walked toward the clubhouse door. Then, he framed himself in the doorway, turned around and put on a wide-eyed innocent face that looked so wrong that Yamaguchi did a double-take. "Oh, Yamaguchi-senpai, please help me with my serve," Tsukishima said, clasping his hands together. He _batted his eyelashes_ , the bastard. "I'll do whatever you say!"

Yamaguchi sucked in a sharp breath and ran forward, shoving Tsukishima out the door. "Yeah. Uh. Yeah, don't do that."

Tsukishima smirked. "Told you. But I'll still let you help."

*

Yamaguchi was having a lazy Saturday afternoon, lying around in bed, and nothing was going to make him move from that spot. He held his DS high over his face; it was too much effort to sit up while he played. Never-Ending Nightmare was used against him, which made him wince. Like, why did that move even exist? Pokémon should never make him feel existential.

"Tadashi!" his mother called from somewhere in the house. "Tsukishima-kun's here! He's coming to you!"

Yamaguchi jumped straight up and fumbled his DS onto the floor. He didn't think he'd forgotten any plans with Tsukishima, and they just saw each other at club activities that morning. But he'd done stupider things before, so maybe he really _was_ forgetting something. In his panic, he looked around his room to see if there was anything embarrassing out that Tsukki might see, like Tsukishima hadn't been in his room just a couple of weeks ago.

"Hey," Tsukishima said from the doorway. He was walking Hachiko on a leash, and she was wearing a very cute green polka-dotted collar. Yamaguchi's panic subsided at the sight of them and he broke into a grin. "I hope you don't mind," Tsukishima said. "I sent you a message a few minutes ago, which you probably haven't seen. But we were in the neighborhood, so." He shrugged, like _here we are_.

"Tsukki, did you walk your bearded dragon over to my house?"

Tsukishima shot Hachiko an annoyed glance. "Walk is a very nice way of putting it. It was more like walk two steps, smell a flower, try to eat the flower, refuse to move and wait to be picked up. I just headed in the direction of the first place I thought of."

Yamaguchi liked that his house was the first place Tsukishima thought of. He stooped down and patted Hachiko on the head. "You've got him so wrapped around your little finger," he said. "Tell me your secrets." She smiled her lizard smile at him. He glanced up at Tsukishima, who was rubbing the back of his head because he was embarrassed, the way he always used to when they were younger. "Did you buy this collar for her?" Yamaguchi got a charming mental image of Tsukishima in a pet store, pondering over a wall of tiny accessories.

"My brother," Tsukishima said, using that voice of his that sounded put out but really meant he wasn't. He used that voice when talking about Akiteru a lot. In fact, it was pretty much exclusively reserved for Akiteru and Yamaguchi. And Hachiko now. "He also got her a pink one that's decorated with strawberries."

Yamaguchi stood up again and pretended to be offended. "And you didn't put that one on her? How dare you."

Tsukishima ignored him. "Are you busy?" he asked. "I wasn't trying to interrupt."

"You weren't interrupting anything other than me getting my ass kicked by Mimikyu."

"Mimikyu," Tsukishima, well, mimicked. "Isn't that one of your favorites?"

Yamaguchi nodded and scooped Hachiko up. "I feel sorry for it. It only wants to make friends, but it makes people sick if you get too close to it. It's sad if you think about it too hard!" He grinned. "But you don't want me babbling on about this."

Tsukishima wrinkled his forehead, drawing his eyebrows together. "When have I ever not told you if I don't want you to talk about something?" he asked.

"Probably never," Yamaguchi said with a grin.

"Then that's settled." Tsukishima walked over to Yamaguchi to unclip Hachiko's leash, then shrugged off the backpack he was wearing. He pulled out some old newspaper from his bag and spread it out on the floor. Yamaguchi peeked into the bag as he set Hachiko down on the floor and saw some toys, a water bottle, and a plastic jars of lizard food. He realized two things at the same time: one, saying Hachiko had Tsukki wrapped around her little lizard toes was the understatement of the year, and two, Tsukishima didn't just wander over to Yamaguchi's house spontaneously. This had been the destination all along. Yamaguchi felt a funny little shiver of excitement run down his back.

Hachiko started exploring Yamaguchi's room, poking her nose into a pile of dirty laundry and trying to crawl up a mountain of textbooks, before settling down in a patch of sun for a nap.

"I guess all that not walking tired her out," Yamaguchi said.

"Mmm," Tsukishima agreed. He flopped back onto Yamaguchi's bed and folded his hands behind his head, stretching out. His feet hung off the edge of Yamaguchi's bed, and his shirt had ridden up just enough that Yamaguchi could see the strip of skin right above his waistband.

Yamaguchi hovered nearby and nervously licked his lips. Tsukishima had been in his room hundreds of times, and on his bed nearly as many. Yamaguchi managed to act normally when they got changed after practice, or in an onsen, or just at each other's houses. Tsukishima on his bed wasn't a big deal. A little bit of belly wasn't a big deal. He needed to act normally, at least until he worked up the urge to tell Tsukishima everything.

"Come on then," Tsukishima said after Yamaguchi's moment of indecision stretched on a little too long. "I told you, I'm not here to interrupt. Let me see you get your ass kicked."

"Don't be a jerk," Yamaguchi said, but he was grinning. He scooped his DS up from where he dropped it and climbed onto the bed next to Tsukishima, poking him in the stomach, right in the place where his shirt had rucked up, hard enough that Tsukishima gasped and rolled onto his side toward Yamaguchi.

Well, that was what Tsukishima deserved for having skin. Which sounded stupid, even inside his head. And now Yamaguchi knew how warm and soft that skin was. And now Tsukishima was curled into Yamaguchi while he played, instead of stretched out next to him, which was an all-new kind of distraction. Yamaguchi had a feeling Tsukki was going to get to see him get his ass kicked a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, very nice Niiyama girls. Also, forgive me for the strip of belly skin cliché indulgence, please and thank you.


	6. Now Shake on It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earning that rating in this chapter, just as a warning. It's, uh, solo time. Don't worry, we'll work back up to that rating again later down the road.

"So you like electric types, water types, and fairy types best, right?" Tsukishima asked. He was still watching Yamaguchi play, his face very close to Yamaguchi's on the pillow.

Yamaguchi hummed in agreement as he finished a battle. "They're the cutest, I think," he said. "Though there are always exceptions."

"I like the dragons the best," Tsukishima said.

"You would," Yamaguchi retorted, though there was no real heat behind it. "You're very predictable sometimes, Tsukki."

"I'm _reliable_."

Yamaguchi laughed. "Of course you are."

Tsukishima hadn't moved from his spot in a really long time, and Yamaguchi felt like he was stretched out next to a fire. He didn't know how else to explain it, except that it was really nice. Outside, the sun was just starting to set, painting the room in stripes of orange; his room was really getting too dark to keep playing without turning on a light, so he saved the game and put it aside. 

"No more monster battles?" Tsukishima asked.

"Not today." Yamaguchi rolled toward Tsukishima – not all the way onto his side, just enough that their bodies were angled toward each other. "So are you ready for the Spring High qualifiers? They start next week."

Tsukishima nodded. "Right before your birthday," he said. Yamaguchi nearly forgot how close it was. "It's weird that we didn't have to play in this time."

"Well, we're a stronger team now," Yamaguchi pointed out. "We've been to Spring High and Nationals, and teams think we're their rivals."

"That's weird, too."

"You say that like you have nothing to do with it."

Tsukishima wrinkled up his forehead thoughtfully. He looked cute like that, but Yamaguchi wanted to smooth out Tsukishima's worries with his fingers anyway. "I guess I have something to do with it," he said eventually.

Yamaguchi laughed. "Tsukki, it's okay. I know you like volleyball. It's not a secret anymore. You can take some credit for getting better at it."

Tsukishima snorted. "You first."

"Fine," Yamaguchi said. "My serves are awesome, and I'm becoming a stronger player. I'll work my hardest and be the best player I can be and I'll totally gloat if I do anything amazing. Then I'll cheer on my best friend in the world, who looks super cool when he's working his hardest and being the best player _he_ can be." He held out his fist. "Deal?"

Tsukishima looked somewhere between pleased and wanting to tell Yamaguchi to shut the hell up. He settled for bumping their fists together.

Then, Hachiko must have felt the loss of her warmth as the last rays of sun disappeared because she started to stir from her nap. Tsukishima rolled off the bed when he noticed, rolling right over Yamaguchi's body as he did so. It was a quick motion, really nothing in the grand scheme of things, but Yamaguchi was stunned anyway. Tsukishima put Hachiko on the newspaper he'd put down earlier, warning her not to make a mess anywhere but on that paper. He set up the food and water from his bag, and before Yamaguchi could make a smartass remark about settling in and staying a while, Tsukishima was climbing up on the bed and stretching out at Yamaguchi's side again.

"I got cold just doing that," Tsukishima said. "You're like a hot water bottle."

"I have lots of good qualities," Yamaguchi said.

"Mmm," Tsukishima said. "Body heat and the ability to not need glasses, despite years of playing video games in the dark."

"Two qualities you don't have," Yamaguchi pointed out.

Tsukishima shrugged. "No one's ever said I'm a better person than you."

"I have," Yamaguchi said.

"You don't count," Tsukishima said. He pressed his face into Yamaguchi's shoulder, and Yamaguchi wondered if he was blushing. Yamaguchi wanted to see if he was right, and he was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to push Tsukishima onto his back and kiss him. He wondered how their mouths would fit together, and wondered if Tsukishima ever thought about that, too. A few months ago he wouldn't have thought so, but now, weirdly, he thought maybe Tsukishima did. The world was opening up to new possibilities. But one of them would have to be brave – something both of them could be at times, and also something both of them sometimes weren't.

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi said. His voice echoed inside his own head, and it seemed deeper than usual. At his side, Tsukishima shivered, just a little.

"What?" Tsukishima's voice was muffled by Yamaguchi's arm.

"Did you want to stay here tonight?"

"I can't," Tsukishima said. He lifted his head up and widened his eyes when he saw Yamaguchi's face. Yamaguchi didn't think he was making a bad face, but he probably looked pretty intense right then. He knew he _felt_ pretty intense. "Hachiko can't be away from her vivarium for too long." Tsukishima sat up on Yamaguchi's bed, folding his long legs cross-legged. "Why did you get me a present that's such a hassle?"

Yamaguchi sat up, too, and faced Tsukishima, mirroring his position. Their knees touched. "Because I knew you'd love it." He hesitated for just a second, then pressed his hand to Tsukishima's cheek, stroking Tsukishima's jaw with his thumb, the same way Tsukki had during their last tournament. Tsukishima's skin was warm and soft, and Yamaguchi just wanted to keep touching him. "You do love it, don't you?"

Tsukishima's breathing seemed to get faster at that. "Yes," he said. "You know me so well."

Yamaguchi brought his other hand up to Tsukishima's face, and they just stared at each other like that. He swallowed hard because Tsukishima wasn't moving closer, but he wasn't pulling away, either. He just stayed still as a statue with his hands folded in his lap, waiting and watching. Yamaguchi ran one hand through Tsukishima's hair, pressing fingertips against his scalp, and that seemed to cut Tsukishima's strings. He closed his eyes and parted his mouth on the smallest sigh.

 _Okay,_ Yamaguchi thought, and wet his lips. _Don't miss your chance_. He shifted forward, closed his eyes, too, and fell off the bed because the loudest alarm he'd ever heard in his life suddenly went off. Had he been dreaming?

"God damn it!" Tsukishima said, leaping across the room for his bag. He pulled out his phone and the wailing cut off as quickly as it started. "Sorry." He shook his head, as if to clear it.

"What was that?" Yamaguchi asked, picking himself up off the floor. "Should we get into our bunkers?"

"No. That was just a reminder that I had to leave when that went off," Tsukishima said. He sighed. "Hachiko needs to get home and, well, I tend to lose time around you."

Yamaguchi smiled down at that. Yeah, they got interrupted again, but it didn't feel like a step back. "I'll get my mom to drive you back home. That way Hachiko won't have to lead you back in the dark."

Hachiko seemed to respond to her name, walking over until she had a scaly clawed foot on Yamaguchi's sock. She scratched at the material a little. "Yes, my brave navigator, who thinks your foot is good for digging," Tsukishima said. 

Yamaguchi laughed. Then he went to ask his mother to drive Tsukishima home and, when he came back, helped gather up Hachiko's things before they left, kneeling on his floor next to Tsukishima. "You know, I think there are travel vivariums you can set up for short stays," he said. "I remember reading about it when I was planning your present."

"Oh?" Tsukishima said. He sounded interested.

"Yeah. Maybe we can set one up in here. That way you don't have to set the world's loudest alarm if you bring Hachiko over, and you don't have to get your parents to take care of her if you're with me." Yamaguchi reached out and brushed his fingers against Tsukishima's knee, a barely there touch that he'd be thinking about for days. "You both can, you know, stay."

Tsukishima swallowed. "You'd do that for me?"

"Tsukki, come on," Yamaguchi said, exasperated. "I bought you the damned lizard, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Tsukishima said, and his face split into the widest grin Yamaguchi had seen from him in years. It left him breathless. "You did."

*

That night, Yamaguchi knew he was being ridiculous. He should have fallen asleep long ago, but instead he was lying on his side and running his hand back and forth over the spot where Tsukishima had spent all afternoon. There were a lot of what-ifs in his head: what if Tsukki hadn't set his alarm, what if Yamaguchi had kissed him like he wanted, what if Yamaguchi had just spilled his feelings out all at once, like knocking over a full bucket of water over instead of the careful slow faucet drip he'd allowed himself so far?

He remembered the way Tsukishima had waited and watched with huge eyes while Yamaguchi touched his face and ran his fingers through his hair. Yamaguchi's heart had clenched and his stomach had twisted up while they looked at each other, and he wondered if Tsukishima had felt like that after they lost their tournament. It didn't feel like Tsukishima had only been trying to cheer Yamaguchi up then. His stomach clenched up again then, too, at the memory.

Yamaguchi closed his eyes and thought of another what-if: what if they'd never been interrupted that day? Would Tsukishima have kissed him, pushed him against the bathroom door, and swallowed Yamaguchi's moans with his mouth? He wanted— god, he just wanted so much, he felt like he was drowning whenever he thought about Tsukishima's mouth, or his eyes, or his hands. Yamaguchi rocked against his mattress and gasped. 

What if Yamaguchi had told Tsukishima he'd been awake that night when Tsukki touched his wrist and traced infinity onto his palm? He pictured himself opening his eyes after Tsukishima had said _I want —_ instead of keeping still the way he had. He'd say _tell me_ and _I want it, too_ , pulling Tsukishima's hand closer and closer, sliding it down his stomach and inside his shorts so Tsukki could feel how much. 

Or what if he had stayed tonight? Yamaguchi pictured himself saying, _I'm not getting the extra futon out, stay in my bed with me_. Tsukishima might blush, but he'd get that serious look on his face and nod and slide in under the covers with him. And this time Yamaguchi would kiss him with no interruptions. He'd coax Tsukki's mouth open, slide their tongues against each other, and they'd rock together with their legs tangled. Then, Tsukishima would say _wait, wait_ and press Yamaguchi back so he could push his pajama pants down.

Yamaguchi pretended his hand was Tsukishima's, pressing his face into his pillow to muffle his shallow breathing and the soft sounds he couldn't help making. And it was good, so good, thinking about Tsukishima watching him and moving his hand faster, asking _Is this okay? Is it good? Can I keep touching you, Tadashi?_ against Yamaguchi's mouth. 

He came quickly then and thought _Please, Kei_ as he spilled over his fist.

*

It was early. It was a Monday. It was awful.

Yamaguchi rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Dedication." Tsukishima grabbed his elbow and stretched out one arm, then switched sides. Something in his back cracked loudly enough that Yamaguchi heard it. "Don't ask how that happened, but it's definitely your fault."

Yamaguchi smiled. "I'll take that blame all day every day." He jogged into the storage room to roll out a bin of volleyballs while Tsukishima set up the net. When got back to the gym, Hinata was there, too, and he and Tsukishima were already toe-to-toe.

"Why are you here?" Tsukishima asked, glaring down.

Hinata laughed at him. "Do you think that look still works on me? Why do you think I'm here?" he asked. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. I want to practice!" He waved at Yamaguchi, then looked over at the doorway where Kageyama and Yachi stood, too. "Oh, we're all here!"

"This isn't all of us," Tsukishima said. He licked his index finger and pushed it into Hinata's ear; Hinata screamed and scrubbed at his ear at his palm.

"All the second years, meanie!" Hinata said. "Ugh, I'm gonna have your spit in my ear all day."

Yamaguchi tried really hard not to feel jealous of that and failed. Yeah, he had it bad.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Kageyama asked. He shoved a ball under one of his arms.

"Serving practice," Yamaguchi said. "Tsukki wanted some pointers, and I said I'd help. It's my first time coaching!"

Hinata's eyes started to sparkle. "Will you teach me to serve, too?"

Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukishima, who shrugged. "You're the one coaching," he said. "It's up to you. But, —" and he seemed really put out as he admitted it "— if we all improve our serving, the whole team improves."

Yamaguchi beamed. "That's very generous of you."

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose, even though Yamaguchi knew he wasn't really annoyed at being called generous. It was more wanting to give the appearance of being annoyed. Reading Tsukki wasn't difficult once someone had enough practice at it, and no one had more practice than him.

Kageyama and Yamaguchi split up the gym, so no one's time was wasted. First, Yamaguchi helped Hinata with serving, while Kageyama threw tosses for Tsukishima. Yachi jogged between the groups, ducking gracefully whenever a ball got too close to her head. It was funny to see how much she'd grown in the past year. When she'd started out assisting Shimizu-san, she was scared to get near the court and the players, but now she was just part of the team, too.

Yamaguchi watched Hinata try his regular serve. The first one got over the net, but it landed behind the attack line, in an easy place for the libero to reach. The second one hit the net, right in front of Tsukishima, who spiked his next toss from Kageyama right to them in retaliation.

"Don't be a pain, Tsukki," Yamaguchi called to him.

"I slipped," Tsukishima called back.

Hinata stuck out his tongue. "I'll give him ‘I slipped.'"

"Hinata."

"Sorry, sorry."

Hinata served again, dropping this one right on the top of Kageyama's head. Kageyama went all red, and Hinata was already bowing and screaming his apologies as Kageyama shouted and Tsukishima laughed so hard that he doubled over.

"This is going really well!" Yachi said brightly, and Yamaguchi laughed. She jogged over to calm Kageyama down, shoving Tsukishima to the sidelines so he was out of Kageyama's earshot.

"I hate serving," Hinata said passionately. "You're so good at it, Yamaguchi. I know people probably say stupid stuff like _what's your secret_ , but I know it's just that you worked really hard. I wish I had your patience for it."

Yamaguchi shook his head. "You're a hard worker, Hinata. I could never jump like you, or hit those superquicks. That's why I concentrated on serving. And you can get better at this, too. Do you know why so few people do jump serves?"

"Because they're hard!" Hinata said.

"Yeah," Yamaguchi said. "And they're hard to control. But who do I know that has a ton of control in the air?"

Hinata brightened. "Me!"

"Yup. I don't think my jump floaters are for you, but powerful jump serves? You could definitely get that with time. By third year, you'll probably be as good as Kageyama at them."

"And you!"

Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I'm just starting to get them. Come on, let's work on your form."

They worked together for a while and Hinata showed some improvement, at least in getting the ball consistently over the net and aiming the ball somewhere other than the easy to reach spots. They switched off partners when Kageyama started grabbing the front of Tsukishima's jersey and shouting, "Teamwork makes the dream work!" 

Yamaguchi didn't want to know.

"The morons are reunited," Tsukishima said, jerking his head over his shoulder as he jogged over to Yamaguchi. Apparently, Kageyama was still in fighting mode because he and Hinata were already yelling. They were still yelling, in fact, when Kageyama started tossing to Hinata. It was kind of impressive that Hinata could spike and argue at the same time. When he landed again, they both started kicking the air and moving toward each other and Yachi had to rush in to calm them down.

"What were you and Kageyama fighting about anyway?" Yamaguchi asked. "You two haven't done that in a long time."

Tsukishima shrugged. "He's an easy target. Every time I looked in this direction, I noticed that he was staring at Hinata. I told him to stop watching his idiot partner while he was tossing to me, and he blew up."

"Why were _you_ looking over here?"

Tsukishima shrugged again, but the tips of his ears went pink. "Are we serving or what?"

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows at the deflection. "We're serving."

He started the same way he had with Hinata, just watching as Tsukki did his regular serves, but Tsukishima's control was already much better than Hinata's. A little more concentration and he could consistently paint the line with his regular serve. Yamaguchi thought about what he said to Hinata, about Hinata having the potential for a powerful jump serve because of how he jumped and all his concentrated energy, but that didn't fit Tsukishima at all. It was funny how they were such opposites – height, the way they approached the game, and how Hinata never held back when Tsukishima always did. 

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi said thoughtfully, "can I see you try a jump serve?"

Tsukishima tried, but he couldn't get the timing down. He got the ball up in the air and jumped up, but he couldn't make the two actions connect. Maybe he was just used to the ball coming toward his hands, like with a block or a toss, instead of up and down. The ball slapped against the floor and a moment later Tsukishima landed.

"Well, so much for that," Tsukishima said. He whistled and followed up with an explosion noise, making his hand into a crashing plane.

"Don't do that," Yamaguchi admonished.

Tsukishima put his hands up, then scooped up the ball and threw it to Yamaguchi. "I'm kidding," he said. "Come on, Yamaguchi. Show me what to do."

Yamaguchi thought for a moment. Then he threw the ball back to Tsukishima. "Here, look," he said, walking over to stand behind Tsukishima and grab his wrist. Tsukishima froze up at that, which was when Yamaguchi realized how close they were, pressed front-to-back, but he made himself concentrate. This was to help Tsukishima with volleyball, which Tsukishima had _asked for_. He knew how hard it was for Tsukki to ask for anything, and he wasn't about to get distracted. "It's all about the timing. You're going to throw the ball with both hands, and then you're going to jump up. As soon as the ball starts the come down, you want to move your arm –" Yamaguchi tugged Tsukishima's arm up, elbow bent, and pushed it forward. "— and then connect, just like a regular serve. But just starting in the air gives the serve more power. You can do it, it's really similar to blocking, only you're controlling the speed instead of counteracting someone else's. You like being in control, don't you?"

Tsukishima laughed a little, though Yamaguchi didn't get what was so funny. "Sometimes," he said. "Can we try again?"

"If you're consistent enough, you might even be able to count how long you have from when you throw the ball until you have to jump."

"Like a rhythm?"

Yamaguchi considered this. "Yeah, I guess you could think of it like a measure of music." He grinned. "Maybe Coach Ukai will let you wear your headphones while you serve during matches."

Tsukishima's eyes lit up. "I could tune everyone out like that."

"I was joking!"

"I know. Still, it's nice to dream."

Yamaguchi shook his head, but he was smiling. He tossed another ball to Tsukishima. "Go ahead."

Tsukishima tossed the ball up high again, but didn't move. Anyone who wasn't as normally focused on Tsukishima's mouth as Yamaguchi probably would have missed it, but he started counting as the ball reached its apex and started falling again. Then he threw the ball again with another test count, this time counting until it reached its highest point. Then once more, counting both on the way up and the way down. Tsukishima was so thorough and careful with everything, so _reliable_ , like he'd put it. Not for the first time, Yamaguchi thought about having all that focus on him, how careful Tsukishima might be with _him_ , but he had to put the thought away or he'd get carried away.

"I'm ready," Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi pressed his lips together and nodded, not trusting his voice.

Tsukishima tossed the volleyball high into the air, still mouthing numbers as it went up. Then he put one foot forward and leapt up, and pulled his arm back, elbow bent, exactly the same way Yamaguchi had showed him. His palm connected with the ball and it sailed forward in a graceful arc, landing behind Hinata and Kageyama. When he landed, Tsukishima clicked his tongue in frustration, but Yamaguchi wasn't having that because that had been awesome, and he wasn't going to let Tsukishima be stupid. 

"That was so good for your first time!" Yamaguchi jumped in front of him and grabbed both of Tsukishima's arms. That startled Tsukishima into another expression, one that Yamaguchi found harder to read, so he just kept going and hugged Tsukki tight around his neck. After a moment of that, right when Yamaguchi was about to let go again, he felt one of Tsukishima's palms tentatively press against his back and pull him in tighter. Yamaguchi exhaled, hard, and hooked his chin over Tsukishima's shoulder.

"Hey, how come I didn't get that treatment when I was serving?" Hinata called from across the gym. Yamaguchi jumped back and looked over his shoulder, where Hinata was grinning from ear-to-ear. 

"I'm bored," Kageyama declared. "Let's play a match."

"But there's only four of us," Yamaguchi said, and then gestured to the sidelines. "Players, I mean. No offense, Yacchan."

"None taken!" Yachi said. "Why don't you play beach volleyball? That's two-on-two! But, you know, on a regular floor and in shoes and inside, so not like beach volleyball at all. Shut up, Hitoka," she muttered to herself. Well, no matter how far Yachi had come, she was still Yachi.

"Sort of beach volleyball is!" Yamaguchi said. He smiled at Yachi, who grinned back. "I call Tsukki."

Hinata made a _pfft_ noise. "Like anyone else wants him," he said.

"I don't see anyone calling you," Tsukishima said. 

"Kageyama, call me!" Hinata said.

"Ugh, fine," Kageyama said. "I guess I call him."

Hinata beamed.

"Yachi-san, will you referee for us?" Yamaguchi asked.

She flashed him a peace sign. "I'll ref and scorekeep, too. Two for the price of one."

"Two brains for the price of one describes our opponents," Tsukishima muttered as everyone moved into their places, head dipped low so he could speak right into Yamaguchi's ear. Yamaguchi snickered.

"What's so funny?" Kageyama demanded.

Tsukishima gave him an up-down glance across the net. "Where do I even start?"

"Asshole."

"Sorry, Your Highness." Tsukishima gave a low bow.

Yamaguchi rolled his eyes. "Stop riling everyone up," he said.

"Even you?" Tsukishima asked. 

"Especially me," Yamaguchi said, pushing the ball into Tsukishima's chest. "You're serving first. Go ahead and try what we just practiced."

Tsukishima's hands covered Yamaguchi's as he took the ball from him, sliding his palms against the backs of Yamaguchi's hands. It might have been an innocent gesture, and he might not have been trying to rile Yamaguchi up, but sometimes Tsukki wasn't a very good listener and just did whatever he pleased. Yamaguchi suspected this was one of those times.

The serve wasn't too bad, but with beach volleyball rules Hinata and Kageyama could move around the court freely, and they were easily able to receive it, then toss and spike the ball back. Out of the corner of his eye, Yamaguchi could see Tsukishima start to move up to the net, but Yamaguchi was already following its path and Tsukishima fell back immediately. Yamaguchi jumped up to block it, and he guessed Kageyama and Hinata weren't sure who to watch because Yamaguchi got the point. He pumped his fist and mumbled, "Yes!" under his breath.

"Serve and block," Tsukishima said, deadpan, the corner of his mouth twitching up as Yamaguchi bounced the ball back to him.

"Oh yeah!" They'd never done it that way before, Tsukishima serving and Yamaguchi blocking. It wasn't like Yamaguchi was interested in giving up his place as a serving specialist, but it was nice that he had options – and that Tsukishima had options, too. Sure, neither of them was going to have Kageyama's genius abilities or Hinata's overwhelming jumping power, but they were both strong in their own ways and getting stronger all the time. "Well," said Yamaguchi brightly, "let's do it again."

After twenty minutes, Hinata and Kageyama were leading by two points, but Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were making them work for it. They especially had trouble whenever Yamaguchi served, which was pretty much the best feeling ever. Watching Kageyama have to dig for a hard-to-get serve made his chest swell up with pride. But the set got cut short when the outside doors flew open and the rest of the team stood there, watching.

"Our second years are so dedicated!" Nishinoya said from the doorway, wiping a tear from his eyes. "They're growing up so fast! Ryuu, do you remember when they first started here?"

Tanaka slapped Nishinoya upside the head. "Yes, because I was here and you weren't." Then, he gave the evil eyeball to the crop of first years that were standing behind him. "If you know what's good for you, you'll take your cues from your senpai and improve like they have! When they started, Tsukishima played half-asleep, Yamaguchi had misplaced his spine, and Hinata couldn't do anything but jump and throw up. And now look at them!"

"What about Kageyama-senpai?" asked one of Aiba's friends, Kiyota.

Tanaka rolled his eyes. "Oh, him? He's always been sickeningly good."

"I've learned a lot, too," Kageyama protested. Yamaguchi wondered if he was thinking about middle school again, and decided it didn't matter. They all worked hard, and they'd all improved together. Everyone called Kageyama a genius, but he never relied on that. It was admirable. Yamaguchi was so lost in thought that he didn't notice when Tsukishima came to stand next to him. 

"Good set," Tsukishima said, but not to Yamaguchi. He was standing at the net, sticking his hand out for Hinata and Kageyama to shake. Hinata gaped at it for a minute, then grinned and shoved his arm under the net to grab it. Kageyama did the same, and then they both shook Yamaguchi's hand. And then all four of them bowed to Yachi just as the rest of the team gathered on the court.

Maybe Nishinoya had been kidding about them growing up so fast, but Yamaguchi knew that they were definitely all growing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments! My favorites are the ones that yell at the characters for being dumb, but tell me I'm doing great.


	7. The Not-Triple Date

Sendai City Gymnasium was bustling with activity, and Ennoshita was about to start yelling. Yamaguchi could see it on his face, and he didn't think there was anything he could really do to stop it. The first two rounds of Spring High preliminaries were being played today, and everyone was too on edge to pay attention their captain.

Tanaka and Nishinoya were making hissing noises at any team that so much as glanced at Yachi, Kageyama and Hinata were still sniping at each other over a missed spike from yesterday's practice, the first years were playing tournament-style rock-paper-scissors and laughing, and Tsukishima was scrolling through his phone and not paying any attention to his surroundings. At least Yamaguchi could do something about that last one. He elbowed Tsukishima in his side and glanced at his screen, just to see what he was so engrossed in.

"Pokémon, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked, surprised. Tsukishima had been looking at one of the stats pages, the ones that listed their evolutions and regions. That was more Yamaguchi's thing; when Tsukishima was on his phone and not texting, he was usually looking up facts on Wikipedia or reading movie reviews. Once, Yamaguchi caught him looking at raincoats for bearded dragons. "What are you even doing?"

Tsukishima locked his phone quickly and shoved it in his jacket pocket. "Nothing," he said, not meeting Yamaguchi's eyes.

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows. "Oh-kay," he said slowly. "Well, Ennoshita-san is about to lose it if we don't give him our attention."

"He should just yell like Sawamura-san always used to."

"I think he's about to," Yamaguchi said, and then laughed when Ennoshita crossed his arms and shouted " _Karasuno, eyes up!_ " Yamaguchi wondered if being captain meant you always had a vein throbbing in your forehead.

They were playing Niiyama Tech the first round. That team hadn't made it out of the first preliminaries last year, but Yamaguchi knew better than to underestimate someone just because they hadn't done well the year before. What was it that Coach Ukai sometimes said? _Yesterday's team isn't tomorrow's team_.

Ennoshita and Ukai gave them the rundown of Niiyama's strengths and weaknesses. Yamaguchi was disappointed to learn that he would be back on the bench because Niiyama had lots of defensive holes to exploit. Narita would start as middle blocker along with Tsukishima, so Yamaguchi could watch the other side and reserve all his strength for his serves.

"It's a good thing," Tsukishima reminded him, leaning in to speak into Yamaguchi's ear.

"Yeah, but –" Yamaguchi didn't even know how to explain what he was feeling. What if Narita killed it out there? He was a third year. What if Yamaguchi never got to start again that season? He wanted to play on the court with everyone, always.

Tsukishima stooped down to rummage through his bag, and grabbed his eyeglass case. "It means we need you in the clutch."

Yamaguchi looked down and screwed up his mouth. Tsukishima looked up at him from the floor and grabbed his wrist, then used Yamaguchi to help him back up to his feet.

"It means you're strong," Tsukishima reminded him. "Your serve is our weapon. And Ukai-san said it's just for this match. You'll start again this afternoon when we play in the next round." His confidence in Yamaguchi's abilities and the team's ability to pull out a win still made Yamaguchi's heart full, even though it wasn't a new feeling anymore. "Right?"

"Right." Yamaguchi stopped clenching his fists and relaxed his tight shoulders; he hadn't even realized how tense he'd gotten. "You're getting better at pep talks, Tsukki."

"Eh," Tsukishima replied, so Yamaguchi punched him the arm. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Oh my god! You're not allowed to build me up, just to knock yourself down! Are you new?" Yamaguchi said, his voice rising enough that Kageyama got distracted from fighting with Hinata.

Tsukishima glanced around and his face started to go a little red. "Yamaguchi," he warned.

"No, come on, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi insisted. "Tell me you're great at pep talks! The best ever!"

"I'm not going to say that," Tsukishima said, but there was a little smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Do you feel better after yelling at me?"

"Yes!" Yamaguchi yelled. He relaxed a little and grinned. "Thanks."

Tsukishima took off his glasses and handed them to Yamaguchi while he snapped his sports goggles around his head. "You're welcome. Get a bunch of service aces."

"Block all their spikes so I don't have to," Yamaguchi said. They walked down the long hallway in Sendai Gymnasium to their court, shoulder-to-shoulder.

"They're so weird," Kageyama said to Hinata, right behind them.

"Look who's talking," Tsukishima and Yamaguchi said in unison. Yamaguchi cracked up.

*

There was a pretty big cheering section for Karasuno, which was impressive for a Thursday morning.

The regulars were there, Shimada and Takinoue and Tanaka's sister. Then there were their five first year players who couldn't stand on the sidelines. Tsukishima's brother was there, too, sitting right next to Saeko-san.

"I didn't know Akiteru was coming!" Yamaguchi said, waving up at him in the stands. Akiteru grinned and flashed him and Tsukishima double peace signs.

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose up. "I told him not to," he said. "He had to take off from work for this. It's just a preliminary."

"Yeah, a preliminary in the city where he lives, that his favorite little brother is playing in."

"I'm his only brother," Tsukishima reminded him.

Yamaguchi laughed. "You'd be Akiteru's favorite if he had two-hundred brothers."

"What a horrifying thought."

Tanaka's sister leaned over the barrier then and Yamaguchi had to look away when he got a bigger eyeful than he was expecting. "Do your best, Ryuu! You, too, Kei-kun!"

" _What?_ " Yamaguchi said, cracking up. "Why was that specifically for you?"

Tsukishima looked disturbed. "I have no idea what that's about."

The rest of the crowd was overwhelmingly girls, which was kind of a surprise. A lot of teams had big contingents of girls who followed them around, but Karasuno had never been one of them. Plus, they didn't seem like they were from their school. But then Yamaguchi realized they were all wearing matching warm-up suits and then he recognized Amanai-san, Tanaka's friend or girlfriend or whatever, and Nakamura-san with her.

"Niiyama Joshi's here to watch us?" Yamaguchi asked, surprised.

"Here to watch Ryuu," Nishinoya corrected, as Amanai-san called down a "do your best!" to him.

"We are playing Niiyama Tech," Tsukishima pointed out. "It's not the same school, but they are near each other. They're probably here for them, not us."

"Good luck, Tanaka-san! Do your best, Tsukishima-kun!" several of the girls shouted all at once.

"Good luck, Tsukishima-kun!" called one of the girls. She had freckles across her face and her brown hair pulled up into a half-ponytail; Yamaguchi vaguely had the sensation of looking into a fun house mirror. He was reminded of Tanaka saying how awkward Tsukishima had been around Niiyama, talking more about Yamaguchi than anything else, and of the bubble of warmth Yamaguchi experienced when he'd heard that news. He glanced over at Tsukishima, who suddenly seemed to find the floor very interesting.

Nishinoya burst out laughing and jumped up high to rub his knuckles against Tsukishima's head. "Yeah, do your best, _Tsukishima-kun_."

Yamaguchi bit his lip to keep from laughing himself.

Once the match began, the problem with Niiyama Tech became evident immediately: first-years. They had a setter-wing spiker combo with quicks that nearly rivaled Kageyama and Hinata's. Luckily for Karasuno, their setter wasn't anywhere near Kageyama's level, and Ukai had been right about their weak defense. But their offense was far better than average and Karasuno was having trouble staying more than two points ahead throughout the first set.

Tsukishima got a one-touch on the Niiyama first-years' quick, Kageyama set it, and Tanaka spiked it in with his cross. Karasuno's crowd went crazy for Tanaka. _Yes!_ Yamaguchi thought to himself, balling up his fist.

"Yamaguchi," Kinoshita said, nudging him. "Ukai-san's calling you over."

"Oh!" Yamaguchi was so involved in watching he hadn't even realized. He jogged over to the bench.

"The next time Tsukishima's up to serve, you're in," Ukai told him. "Take us into the second set." Takeda-sensei gave him an encouraging thumbs-up, and Yachi clapped and bounced up and down.

The whistle blew at the rotation change, Yamaguchi holding up the number eight paddle for Tsukishima. All the second-years had moved up to single-digit uniform numbers once last year's third-years retired, though Hinata still grumbled about Kageyama being one ahead of him. Yamaguchi had offered to let Kageyama keep his nine, since he had it now, but Kageyama had refused, probably because he liked being one ahead of Hinata without wanting to say it out loud.

"Do your best, Yamaguchi-kun," Tsukishima muttered as he came off the court, briefly squeezing Yamaguchi's hand as he took the paddle.

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi complained. He knew Tsukishima didn't want him to mess up, but his teasing and brief touch set Yamaguchi on edge more than having to serve.

Yamaguchi stood behind the line, mostly tuning out the crowd. A couple of the guys from Karasuno called out "Nice serve," but he could also hear Niiyama muttering about jump floaters. So they knew about him. It was weird having a reputation, but Yamaguchi supposed he'd earned it. Then the whistle blew. He took a deep breath, gathered up his bearings for a couple of seconds and found his focal point, then threw the ball high into the air.

 _That's a good toss,_ he thought to himself. _I can really drive this one in._

Yamaguchi leapt up and instead of concentrating on giving the ball perfect topspin, he concentrated on power, putting everything into driving the ball forward.

By the time he landed again, the Niiyama guys were all stunned and frozen in place, and Karasuno was shouting and going crazy. Tanaka gave him a noogie.

On the sidelines, everyone not currently in play was doing Sugawara's old "nice serve, Yamaguchi" pose – knees bent, legs up, and pointing – including the couple of first-years. _Including Tsukishima_. Yamaguchi nearly fainted when Tsukki smirked at him.

"One more," Tsukishima called from the sidelines.

"One more!" Hinata and Kageyama repeated.

They won that the set quickly after that. Then they won the second set, too, and the first round was done, just like that.

*

Some of their cheerleaders came down to the court after the match was over. Shimada ruffled his hair and Saeko-san gave him a tight hug, which made him blush a little. Akiteru was trying to put Tsukishima into a headlock, but his brother went all the way up on his tiptoes, so he was just out of reach. The benefits of being the big little brother, Yamaguchi supposed.

"What time is your next match supposed to start?" Akiteru asked.

"Why?" Tsukishima said.

Akiteru laughed. "You're always so suspicious. It's just a question, jeez."

"The earliest is two," Yamaguchi said. "It could be later if the match before us goes long, though."

"Then come out to lunch with us, Kei!" Akiteru said. "We'll have you back in no time."

"Us?" Tsukishima asked. "We?"

Akiteru nodded and Yamaguchi swore he looked a little pink in the face. "Me and Sae-chan," he said.

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. " _Who_?"

"Oh, come on." Akiteru scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then pointed across the room, where Tanaka was talking to his sister and Amanai from Niiyama Joshi. "You didn't suspect?"

"Oh my god," Tsukishima said, which means he hadn't. "Oh my god! I don't want to be related to a Tanaka!"

" _Related_?" Akiteru exclaimed. "We've been dating for like a month! Dating a person doesn't always mean soulmates and wedding bells. I just didn't want to, you know, keep any secrets from you."

Tsukishima looked stricken, slouching with his hands clasped in front of him, and Yamaguchi desperately hoped that Akiteru dropping this on him wouldn't mess him up for their match that afternoon.

"Come on," Akiteru urged. "She's fun, she's pretty, she lov— uh, likes me, and she has ties to a lot of the things I love." He punched his brother in the arm; _that_ , at least he could reach. "Like you! Bring Tadashi, if it helps. I'll even pay for all of us."

Tsukishima's panicked eyes turned on him then, and Yamaguchi felt like he'd been put in charge of calming a wild animal. "I'll take a free lunch," Yamaguchi said. "It's got to be better than the bento I threw together at six this morning."

As soon as Yamaguchi agreed, something in Tsukishima's demeanor shifted, at least a little. It was kind of like the times Yamaguchi had yelled at him, but without having to yell at him. It made Yamaguchi feel depended on, reminding him of something he didn't always realize Tsukishima needed from him.

"Okay," Tsukishima said. "I'll go."

*

Yamaguchi didn't want to think about this as a triple date. Akiteru and Saeko-san were really dating, of course, and Tanaka had brought along Amanai-san and they were doing some weird were-they-weren't-they dance that was practically dating, which just left Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. But just because Yamaguchi very much wanted to tell Tsukishima his feelings and go on dates with him didn't mean he wanted this to be one of them. So. It wasn't a triple date.

Tanaka looked about as weirded out as Tsukishima did, which Yamaguchi couldn't blame him for, but he'd also bet a lot of money that Tanaka would get over it easier than Tsukishima would. Tsukki was the king of internalization, and as much as Yamaguchi tried shaking him out of it, it was a pretty important facet of his personality. Sometimes it was even a good thing. Tsukishima thought things through completely, and no one was as calm and focused as him at his best.

"You all played so well today!" Saeko gushed over ramen. "You didn't even need my taiko team. But we'll be there for the finals!"

"We don't know that we're going to make the finals!" Tanaka exclaimed. "Don't you dare jinx us."

Saeko blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Ah, Ryuu, you think everything's a jinx. Once," she said conspiratorially to Amanai-san, "he wouldn't speak to me for a week because I washed his lucky boxer shorts. I was just trying to pick up in his room!"

"Argh," Tanaka yelled and flailed across the table to swat at his sister.

Tsukishima muttered under his breath, "I didn't just hear that. I'm ascending to another plane of existence."

Yamaguchi covered his mouth and laughed. "Don't leave me here with Tanaka-san and his unwashed underwear."

"I _heard_ that," Tanaka said. His cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"Once, in middle school, I wore the same socks for two weeks because the volleyball club was on a winning streak," Amanai-san confessed. "My mother finally threatened to make me sleep on the porch if I didn't take them off and wash them."

"Kanoka, that's disgusting!" Tanaka said, but he was clearly delighted.

Amanai shrugged. "You don't mess with a streak."

Akiteru nodded sagely. "This one's a keeper."

Tanaka looked embarrassed again, but in a more pleased way. "Ah, I know that already." He draped his arm casually around Amanai's shoulders and Yamaguchi stared at them with envy.

The idea of getting to be so open about his feelings, for no one to think he and Tsukki were just friends, was something he desperately wanted, and here was Tanaka getting to do that with a girl he liked. The surprising thing was when Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukishima, he no longer looked like he wanted to leave his body or like his brother was from another planet. Instead, he was looking from Tanaka and Amanai to Saeko and Akiteru and back, his nose scrunched up in thought. Saeko leaned over and whispered something in Akiteru's ear, and Akiteru looked suddenly thoughtful, too. Akiteru and Tsukishima's faces were nearly identical just then.

Then, Akiteru looked right at Yamaguchi, which made his face go hot for some reason. He leaned over his bowl and shoveled food into his mouth, pretending that the steam was to blame.

But things got better, quick. Tsukishima shuffled over a couple of inches, closing the space in between him and Yamaguchi. He didn't do anything like put his arm around Yamaguchi's shoulder or take his hand, like Saeko had just done to Akiteru, but they were sitting close together and their legs were pressed up together, not accidentally, not because they were too tightly packed together, but by Tsukishima's choice. Yamaguchi didn't move away.

"Saeko-san," Tsukishima said finally, his voice quiet. "Tell me about how you and my brother got together."

"Ah, don't tell him that," Akiteru said.

Saeko laughed. "Why? Are you embarrassed?" she asked, and kissed Akiteru on the cheek. "Well, I'm not. Anyway, we were really, really drunk one night…"

*

Back at the gymnasium, Tanaka and Amanai slapped high-five as he wished her good luck for her next match and she did the same. Tsukishima headed back to the rest of the team, but Yamaguchi hung back, waiting for Tanaka. He tried not to be too intrusive, standing a ways away.

"If you don't make it to the finals, you owe me ice cream," she told Tanaka.

"Oh really?" Tanaka laughed and put his hands on his hips. "And what if _you_ don't make it to the finals?"

Amanai rolled her eyes. "We'll make it to the finals. We're going to nationals again."

Tanaka shook his head as she walked away, toward her next match. "Queens are a real handful."

"How long have you guys known each other?" Yamaguchi asked.

"Ack! Yamaguchi! I didn't know you were still standing there," Tanaka said, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, let's see. A long time, since we were seven? Maybe longer."

"Wow. Longer than me and Tsukki," Yamaguchi said.

Tanaka jumped up and put Yamaguchi in a headlock and pulled him toward the gym. "It's nice having someone familiar around, isn't it? Someone who's known you for a long time? I'm glad Kanoka and I found each other again."

It was more than nice, Yamaguchi thought, even though the circulation to his brain was getting cut off. "Tanaka-senpai, can you please let me go?"

"Only if you promise to serve twenty points!" Tanaka said, and laughed before letting Yamaguchi stand up straight again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tanaka-senpai best senpai. And look at me get all the fic's pairings in one scene! Also, once Tsukki figures out how to get Saeko to tell him all the embarrassing things Akiteru does, he'll like them dating much better.


	8. Flexibility Is A Virtue

After Yamaguchi changed back into his volleyball uniform and went to the court, he found Tsukishima leaning against the wall, one leg propped up against it as he scrolled through his phone. The crowd was filling up and even from his place on the floor, Yamaguchi noticed a couple of girls in the bleachers trying to be subtle as they pointed at him and talked behind their hands. And he totally got it. Tsukishima was talk-behind-hands-worthy, even when he wasn't leaning up against things. He shook his head, forcing himself to stop staring, and stood with him against the wall.

"Whatcha doing?" Yamaguchi asked.

"Looking at pictures. Here." Tsukishima handed over his phone, and Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows. He never let anyone scroll through his camera roll, not even Yamaguchi. Well, he didn't _usually_ let Yamaguchi, and he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

There were lots of pictures of Hachiko, naturally, modeling different collars or eating bugs. But that wasn't all. Tsukishima also had pictures of random scenery, of Akiteru, his parents, and Yamaguchi. Lots of pictures of Yamaguchi, pictures of him at volleyball practice, with Hinata and Yachi, in the aisles at Sakanoshita, even one at his desk at school, taken one morning when Yamaguchi had his earbuds in and head down before classes started. All of them were from a distance. He had no idea Tsukishima had even taken them. The only picture he could remember was the one of him and Hachiko in Akiteru's room.

"You have more pictures of me than I have of me," Yamaguchi observed. He handed Tsukishima back his phone, but probably held on a little too long before letting go.

Tsukishima shrugged. "You probably have more pictures of me than I have of me."

"Yeah, but –" _You knew I was taking those_. It didn't matter how long Yamaguchi had known Tsukishima, there were always things about him he kept locked behind doors. Sometimes, like now, he'd unlock one and let Yamaguchi peek inside, but sometimes Yamaguchi just wanted to fling them all open. "You should take more selfies," he said finally, and grinned. He knew he was letting the moment pass, but he needed more time to process and, besides, they had a match to play. "You're so photogenic."

"If you say so," Tsukishima said, and Yamaguchi was about to give him a confused look when he put his arm around Yamaguchi's shoulders and tugged him in, putting his phone up in front of the two of them. "Say cheese."

"Wait, Tsukki!"

Tsukishima took the picture of them anyway. Yamaguchi peered at it before it disappeared from his phone's screen. Ugh. He was clearly looking at Tsukishima and not the camera, and it probably gave away everything.

"I wasn't ready," Yamaguchi complained.

"Should I not send it to you then?" Tsukishima asked, staring down at his phone. "I already have it attached to a message."

"Ugh!" Yamaguchi said. "Of course send it to me."

Tsukishima lips quirked up, and a second later Yamaguchi's phone buzzed in the pocket of his warm-up jacket. He made the picture his lock screen, even though he really did look stupid. But Tsukishima looked great, and Tsukishima looked even better in person when he realized what Yamaguchi was doing.

"Yamaguchi –"

"Tsukishima-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Ukai-san needs you both!" called Yachi, jogging over. "Oh! And tonight, after the matches, my mother said it was all right if there was a team bonding session at our apartment."

"You and the whole team?" Tsukishima said.

"Well, and my mother," Yachi said. "I have my own room, so the team can take over our living room. Also, I invited two first-year girls who might be interested in becoming my assistant managers." She smiled and scratched the back of her head. "A lot of girls have approached me about that, actually! It would be nice not to be so outnumbered."

"What if we have a match tomorrow?" Yamaguchi asked. "Aren't you afraid we'll stay up all night?"

Yachi put her hands on her hips and glared, which was very cute. Yamaguchi grinned. "Not if I have anything to say about it! Don't mess with Super Manager."

"Okay, Super Manager," Tsukishima said. He bent over and patted her head.

"Tsukishima-kun!" Yachi batted his hand away. "Also, Ennoshita-san will be there, and I know everyone's scared of him. So, you guys will come, right?"

Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukishima, who typically wasn't into team bonding or socialization or losing sleep. But all Tsukishima said was, "Do you want to go?"

"Of course," said Yamaguchi.

"We'll be there," Tsukishima told Yachi. "But first we have to win another match."

Yachi pumped her fist over her head. "You will! Or else!" She ran off to invite the first years who weren't in the stands.

"So threatening," Tsukishima mumbled, leaning into Yamaguchi's side as they joined the rest of the team.

"I wouldn't want to tangle with her," Yamaguchi agreed.

"That's good to know," Tsukishima said, but Ukai started talking before Yamaguchi could ask what that meant.

Ukai put his hands on his hips and looked at the players. "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked.

"GOOD NEWS!" Hinata bellowed.

Kageyama elbowed him in the side and muttered, "You're too loud."

"Well, the good news is we're playing Kesinike West, who tripped into the second round after playing three long sets. The third set went to 33-32." Most of Karasuno winced at that, knowing very well how much a never-ending third set could exhaust a team. "Their record is worse than ours, and a brutal morning match probably won't help their chances. Also, their third years retired over the summer, so they're dealing with a lot greener group than we are. Yamaguchi, you're starting this afternoon."

"Okay!"

"We'll be expecting a lot from you, since you're fresh as a daisy and all."

Tsukishima covered his mouth and laughed.

"Shut up," Yamaguchi whispered, elbowing him in the side.

"Sure, daisy."

Yamaguchi wrinkled up his nose.

"So what's the bad news?" Tsukishima asked.

"In our bracket, Johzenji and Date Tech both picked up wins. Date Tech won against Wakutani South, so we know they're serious about winning. In the other bracket, Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai both moved on, as expected. As long as we win this match, we've only got fierce battles ahead of us. But I believe we can fight and survive those. Sensei?"

Takeda stood up and adjusted his glasses. The whole team stood up a little straighter, waiting for a stirring motivational speech. "If you win," Takeda said, "I'll buy you all popsicles later."

Everyone started laughing. Nishinoya let out a giant cackle, louder than everyone else, and asked for two.

"Only if you get every ball that comes to you up in the air," Takeda said.

"You've got a deal, sensei!"

Ennoshita got everyone into a huddle. "Let's win this thing," he shouted. "You didn't keep five excellent, unforgettable third year players for Spring Nationals, just to have us all leave now! Do your best!"

Yamaguchi didn't want to think about his group taking over the team, at least not yet. He knew it was inevitable, but he wanted a little longer. Which meant they had to win, and had to keep on winning.

"RIGHT!" the team yelled, as the huddle broke apart.

Ennoshita and Kesenike's captain shook hands, and the match began. It was obvious right away that Kesenike West was still recovering from their morning match, but that didn't mean Karasuno had things easy. They had a first year who was even taller than Tsukishima at middle blocker, and he was a good jumper.

But soon Karasuno had a healthy lead, and Kageyama decided that was a good time to focus on Yamaguchi.

"You want to spike?" he asked when Yamaguchi rotated to the front.

"Of course!" Yamaguchi replied.

"I'll toss to you if you can match me."

"As expected of our king," Tsukishima called from the back line, where he'd apparently been eavesdropping. He caught the ball Hinata bounced to him and walked behind the line.

"Shut up and serve the ball," Kageyama grunted.

Tsukishima bowed. "As you wish."

Yamaguchi called out, "Nice serve, Tsukki!" and faced the net. The whistle blew and, behind him, he could hear Tsukishima's toss and run up, and knew he wasn't using his regular serve.

"Hell yeah, Kei!" Akiteru screamed from the stands as the ball flew over Yamaguchi's head and into Kesenike's side of the court. Various cries of "Tsukishima!" followed. Their receive was off, too high and back into Karasuno's court.

"Chance ball!" Hinata yelled.

Ennoshita received it cleanly, looking more like Sawamura-san than Yamaguchi had ever seen him. "Kageyama!" Ennoshita yelled.

Kageyama went for the center and Yamaguchi realized everyone on Kesenike was looking at Hinata, which meant no one was thinking about him. Yamaguchi ran up and jumped as high as he could, feeling Kageyama's toss in his palm for a second before he spiked it down.

"Holy crap," Yamaguchi breathed, putting his face into his hands as everyone around him congratulated him and slapped his back.

"Great, now Yamaguchi's my rival too!" Hinata yelled.

"He wasn't before?" Kageyama asked.

"Of course he was!"

Yamaguchi realized he was shaking. He lifted his face from his hands again. Did it always feel like that, when Kageyama got someone to do what he needed? The other team bounced the ball back to Karasuno; Yamaguchi caught it. "That felt great," he said.

"That looked great," Tsukishima said, and then staggered forward two steps when Tanaka slapped him on the back for the compliment. Yamaguchi grinned so hard that his face hurt. 

"One more," Yamaguchi said, bouncing the ball back to Tsukki.

Kesenike didn't last much longer after that. Karasuno won in straight sets.

*

"Dateko and Johzenji are still playing," Hinata reported, leaping up on Yamaguchi's back after they were done showering and changing back into their warm-up suits.

"That's some second round match-up," Yamaguchi said. He hiked Hinata up higher on his back. Tsukishima scooped up Yamaguchi's bag and strapped it over his chest alongside his own.

"What about _my_ bag?" Hinata asked. "I can't just leave it here!"

Tsukishima shrugged. "Maybe it'll grow feet and learn to walk."

"Maybe another bag will give it a piggyback ride," Yamaguchi suggested. Tsukishima nodded in agreement.

"I've got it," Kageyama grunted, scooping it up. "Are we watching the end of Dateko and Johzenji's match, or what?"

"Of course," Yamaguchi, Hinata, and Tsukishima all said in unison. Kageyama looked startled.

Some of the first years caught up with them. "What's Johzenji like?" asked Chiba, matching stride with Yamaguchi. He mostly only knew him as the first year who wore Yamaguchi's old number twelve, though he'd subbed in for Tanaka in the second set against Kesenike and scored two points, which meant they all had to watch out for him. Sideliners didn't usually like staying that way, and Ukai always had his eye on players with a knack for putting points on the board. Also, he was tall, at least a couple of centimeters taller than Kageyama and Yamaguchi. One more big growth spurt and he'd be in Tsukishima territory.

"They're really fun!" Hinata said, pumping his fist in the air and elbowing Yamaguchi in the head.

"And unpredictable," Kageyama said. Yamaguchi wasn't sure if Kageyama thought that was a good thing or not.

Yamaguchi nodded. "They're definitely a party team."

"Probably a bad match-up with Date Tech," Tsukishima said. "They have that unbreakable Iron Wall, and they're so disciplined and have insane stamina. It takes them forever to get fatigued. They're always a real pain."

"I remember that from our practice matches," Chiba said. "Well, Karasuno won't lose to them!" He poked Yamaguchi in his side, nearly making him drop Hinata, and smiled warmly. "Right, Yamaguchi-senpai?"

"I— I guess," Yamaguchi said. He really had no idea what to do with kohai. "What do you think, Tsuk—"

Tsukishima seemed to have grown five centimeters in the space of five minutes, and he was somehow glaring at Chiba and walking without running into anything at the same time.

Chiba's eyes widened and he fell back to walk with the other first years again.

"Scary, Tsukishima," Hinata said. "So scary!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tsukishima said, looking like himself again.

*

Johzenji and Date Tech were already past endgame in their third set, tied up 28-28. Everyone looked exhausted, and Yamaguchi couldn't help but feel tired just watching them. It wasn't like Karasuno had it easy on the first day, but by comparison, their matches had been a walk in the park.

Terushima from Johzenji, though, suddenly seemed to rally. He gave a full body shake and made everyone else on his team give him fist bumps and they all yelled together. Then Johzenji did two things: first, their setter managed a dump during Dateko's serve, which made Koganegawa and Futakuchi swear loudly enough that Karasuno could hear it in the stands and even seemed to unnerve Aone, and second, Terushima came up to serve.

And damn him, Terushima did a jump floater that painted the line with control Yamaguchi wished he could achieve consistently, winning the match for his team.

"Wow," Ennoshita said from the row behind Yamaguchi. He had his arms folded across is chest. "Johzenji, huh? I wasn't expecting that."

"Should be fun!" Nishinoya exclaimed. "I bet I could pick off that serve."

"Of course you can, Noya," Tanaka said, cuffing his ear. "We'll be sailing into the finals in no time."

"Any news from the other bracket, Yachi-san?" Kageyama asked.

Yachi brought up the results on her phone and nodded. "It'll be Aoba Johsai versus Shiratorizawa, as expected. Goshiki-san from Shiratorizawa drove in twenty points alone in their second match."

"Whoa, Goshiki!" Hinata exclaimed.

Tsukishima shook his head. "I knew he was going to be a pain in the ass this year."

"Next year, too," Kageyama said. Tsukishima scrunched up his face and nodded. "He's in our grade."

Nishinoya reached over and ruffled Kageyama and Tsukishima's heads; both batted him away immediately. "No problem, you guys. If we have to, we'll take ‘em down again." 

"Piece of cake!" Tanaka exclaimed, though he sounded less sure of himself than he had before.

*

As they were walking out of the gymnasium and back to the rental vans to head back home, Terushima from Johzenji ran into them.

"Looking forward to playing you guys tomorrow," he said to Ennoshita, shaking his hand and clapping him on the back. "Karasuno's _way_ more fun than Dateko. They're all so serious."

Which was kind of true, but still pissed Yamaguchi off anyway. He didn't know why; probably he was still thinking about Terushima's perfect match-winning serve.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Ennoshita said, drawing himself up and looking pretty terrifying. "Let's have a good match and do our best."

"Sure, dude," Terushima said, then shouted, "Glasses-chan!"

Noya and Tanaka started looking all around and Yachi looked confused. "Ah, I'm sorry, Terushima-san," she said, "but Kiyoko-san graduated last year."

"Oh, I know," said Terushima. "I meant your other glasses-chan." Then he winked at Tsukishima and stuck out his tongue to show off his stud, and Tsukki looked like a deer in headlights. Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes. "A little bit of flexibility is a virtue, don't you think?" he continued, then laughed and shot them all double-fingerguns. "Well! See you tomorrow!"

"God, Tsukishima's so popular," Nishinoya declared. "I'm jealous!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the weird transitional chapter! The next one's more fun, I promise. No one mess with Super Manager, in the meantime.


	9. Can't Use Milk for a Party Game

The two first-year girls Yachi recruited were already with Yachi's mother in their apartment when the team arrived. Yachi spread her arms out in a barrier when the team got to her door, interrupting a made-up cheer about winner dinner that Nishinoya and Tanaka were joyously chanting.

"Ohh," Noya said, ducking right under one of Yachi's arms and heading inside. He tilted his head and leaned a hand against the door, waggling his eyebrows. "Ladies."

Yachi spun around and grabbed him by his collar. "No," she said firmly.

"Super Manager," Tsukishima said quietly. Yamaguchi muffled laughter into his hand.

"Noya-san," Yachi continued. "Please behave yourself while in my home." She looked at the two other girls, "Ah, I hope you'll stay. They're all really nice if you give them a chance!"

Nishinoya clapped his hands together and bowed deeply. "Forgive me, Yacchan! Forgive me, assistant managers. I was just being friendly."

The two first-year girls looked at each other and giggled. "It's okay, Yachi-senpai," one said. "We're just happy to help."

Yachi introduced Endo and Watanabe to rest of the team, and then showed everyone where they'd be staying. Yachi's apartment was big, but with most of the volleyball team there, it was wall-to-wall cramped. Her organization was impressive, though. The furniture in the living room and in her mother's office had all been pushed to the sides, and she'd borrowed enough futons from her neighbors for everyone. The set-up reminded Yamaguchi of training camp. The second and third years claimed all the decent corner spots for themselves, leaving everything else for the eight first-years.

Also, and this was very important, Yachi's mother and the first year girls had a massive spread of food waiting for everyone. Yamaguchi had been hungry before, but that was nothing compared to having it right under his nose. After their long day of matches, everyone ate a lot, even Tsukishima.

"This was nice of Yachi, wasn't it?" Yamaguchi asked, finding a spot next to Tsukishima in the kitchen. "Are you glad you came here instead of going home?"

"Mmm," Tsukishima said around a mouthful of food. He swallowed and Yamaguchi watched his throat bob up and down. "I've had worse days." Which was high praise, coming from him.

Yachi came up to them then, a little bit of the old panic in her eyes. "There are so many people in my house!" she said. "Do you think everything's okay? Do you think I'm going to scare off Endo-chan and Nabe-chan? This was too much! This isn't the way you introduce new people to a team!"

Yamaguchi glanced over at Endo and Watanabe, who were both talking animatedly to a couple of the first year guys. The girls were both imitating overhand serves. "I think everything's fine. Where did you find them anyway?"

"Ah! They both played volleyball in middle school, but they didn't want to continue on in high school. They both love volleyball, though, and know way more about it than I do." Her shoulders sagged and she made an exaggerated sad face.

"Yacchan, you're plenty knowledgeable!" Yamaguchi said. "Right, Tsukki?"

One of Tsukishima's eyebrows went up. "Of course. What else would you be?" he said.

Yachi shook her head. "You're so interesting, Tsukishima-kun," she said as she walked away.

Yamaguchi laughed. Once back in elementary school, his mother called Tsukishima an acquired taste, but she didn't mean it in a bad way. He was always polite to Yamaguchi's parents and they both liked him a lot, but back then Tsukishima hadn't been like most other kids. And now, he wasn't like most other people. Yamaguchi guessed he was into interesting and acquired, and always had been. He wondered if that's what other people, like those girls in the stands or Johzenji's captain, saw in Tsukki – the interesting side to him, the challenge. Then, Tsukishima threw away his empty paper plate and yawned, stretching his arms way above his head and revealing that little space of skin between his shirt and his waistband, the same way he had when he was sprawled out on Yamaguchi's bed the other day. That – Yamaguchi swallowed hard – well, that could be it, too.

A little while later, after everyone started settling down, Super Manager corralled her two assistant managers into her room for the night and shot a stern glare to everyone on the volleyball team, challenging anyone daring to go in there or daring to stay up all night.

"Lights out in _one hour_ ," Yachi told them, shutting the door behind her. Several guys saluted. "I'll leave it to you, Ennoshita-san."

Ennoshita nodded from his futon, where he was sitting cross-legged and playing cards with Narita. "Roger, Yachi-san. You can count on me." Nishinoya took the opportunity to roll into Ennoshita's lap, scattering the cards everywhere and blinking up at him with huge eyes. "Do you need something?" Ennoshita asked.

"Chikara, can we play one party game before bed?"

"Ooh, can we?" Tanaka said, rolling in from his own futon and scattering Narita's cards around. Narita flicked Tanaka in the forehead.

"Party games?" Hinata asked. "What, like pin the tail on the donkey?"

From his corner futon, Tsukishima stretched across Yamaguchi to flick Hinata in the head, too. He didn't move from Yamaguchi's lap right away. "How old are you?"

"What's that got to do with it?" Hinata squawked.

"We should play Never Have I Ever," Kinoshita said.

"No," Ennoshita said. "Absolutely not. Do you remember what happened last time?"

Tanaka waved his hand in front of his face, like he was trying to wave Ennoshita's concerns away with the flick of his wrist. "That was different. You don't have to play with beer! You just ask questions and drink if you've done it! Besides, it's not like you were complaining that Saeko left it behind."

"Saeko?" Tsukishima asked, pulling himself up again. Yamaguchi missed his warmth immediately. "You mean my brother's girlfriend got a bunch of high school students drunk?"

"No," Narita said. "Tanaka stole it all from her. She was pissed the hell off the next day. And let me tell you, my head didn't like all the yelling."

"Me either," Kinoshita said. Ennoshita and Nishinoya both just clutched the sides of their heads, as if remembering.

"Anyway," Ennoshita said. "In conclusion, no. We have a big match tomorrow, and with any luck, the day after, too."

Kageyama cleared his throat. "Can we please play, Captain?" he said. Kageyama was twisting the coverlet on his futon up with his hands. "I've never played a party game before."

Yamaguchi winced. He knew that a lot of them had changed because of Karasuno, but thinking about Kageyama before made him especially sad. Even Tsukishima went to parties when they were younger. Usually because Yamaguchi had dragged him, of course, but it still counted.

Ennoshita sighed at that because he knew he'd lost. "Fine," he said and rolled his eyes. "Everyone grab a drink. _But_ , we're done and down in an hour, and we keep the noise down because the girls might be trying to sleep. I'm tired as hell, and Tanaka needs his beauty rest."

"Hey!" Tanaka said, tossing his nonexistent hair. "I'm plenty beautiful already."

Most of the team scrambled up for cups, but Tsukishima had a bottle of water and Yamaguchi had most of his soda left, so they hung back. Hinata was yelling, "Kageyama, you can't pick milk for a party game!" and Kageyama was yelling, "Why the hell not, jerkwad?" back, while Aiba and Chiba tried shushing them without much luck.

"Jerkwad," Tsukishima mumbled, settling against the wall with his eyes closed. He pulled off his glasses and lay them on his pillow. "I'll have to remember that one."

Yamaguchi laughed. "Are you going to play, Tsukki?"

"I guess," Tsukishima said, shrugging. "What else was I really going to do?"

"Put on your face mask and headphones, and ignore the rest of us?"

Tsukishima opened one eye and looked at Yamaguchi again. "Did you want me to do that?"

"No," Yamaguchi said. "Can you see me like that?"

"No," Tsukishima said. "You're too far away. Everything past my futon is one big blur."

Yamaguchi bit his bottom lip and shifted onto Tsukishima's futon, so his thigh was pressed up against Tsukki's knees. "Better?"

Tsukishima opened both eyes. He had such pretty eyes, and they were even prettier up close. "You're definitely clearer now."

"But is that better?"

"To some people," Tsukishima said, but he was smiling.

Everyone was mostly back in the living room by then, lounging on their futons or draped over each other. Tanaka sat in the middle of the room, cross-legged and leering, like he was about to tell a ghost story but lacked the atmosphere. "For anyone who doesn't know how to play," he said, "we go around the room and take turns making statements about ourselves. They don't have to be true, either, they just need to start with ‘Never have I ever.'"

"Yeah!" Nishinoya butted in, leapfrogging over Tanaka to sit down in front of him. "And if you've done the thing, you take a drink. If we were playing the right way –" Tanaka and Noya both pointedly looked at Ennoshita then "—people who've lived adventurous lives get drunk quick."

Tanaka shrugged. "This way, we just get blackmail material on each other."

Noya cackled. "I have so much blackmail material on these dudes," he said, gesturing at the other third years. Narita lazily gave him the finger.

"Okay, that's about it!" Tanaka said, and clapped his hands. "Who's going first?"

"Chikara!" Noya and Kinoshita said together.

Ennoshita grimaced, but then he shrugged. "Never have I ever failed an exam."

"So, you drink if you have failed," Tanaka explained, as he tipped back his own cup.

Yamaguchi watched, wide-eyed, as a full half of the room took a drink. His parents would kill him if he ever failed anything, so he just sat there. At least he had Tsukishima on his side, busy snickering at Kageyama's new milk mustache.

"Then, after your turn, you throw it to whoever you want to go next," Ennoshita said. "But spread it around; it's nice if everyone gets a turn."

"That's what she said!" Nishinoya said, gleefully.

Ennoshita closed his eyes and shook his head. "I walked right into that one," he admitted. "Nishinoya, you're up."

"Never have I ever kissed someone shorter than me!" He didn't drink after, but lots of other people did: Tanaka, Ennoshita, Narita, Kageyama, even first year Kiyota.

"Does my little sister count?" Hinata asked.

" _No_ ," replied everyone.

More sitting still for Yamaguchi, but also for Tsukishima, which made Yamaguchi relax. Basically everyone was shorter than Tsukishima, after all.

"We're boring," Yamaguchi whispered to him.

Tsukishima shrugged. "Then I like boring."

Yamaguchi grinned.

"Ryuu, you're up next!" Nishinoya said.

"Yes!" Tanaka said and pumped his fist. "Uh, let's see. Never have I ever had a crush on a girl." He took a drink, and almost the whole room joined in, Yamaguchi included. There'd been a few girls – Mei, who'd been his babysitter, Sakura-chan in middle school, and Yachi for a little bit when she first became team manager. Nishinoya drank _very_ enthusiastically. Tsukishima stayed still, and of course Yamaguchi noticed. Tanaka, too.

"Tsukishima, you've never had a crush?" Tanaka said. "I knew you were cold, but not _that_ cold. Not one crush? Not even a cute little elementary school thing?"

"That wasn't the question," Tsukishima said.

"What? Yes, it was," Tanaka said. "Drink, you smug bastard."

Tsukishima shook his head. "You said on a girl."

Yamaguchi could almost see the ripple move through the room as everyone figured out what he meant. Tsukishima delivered the news matter-of-factly, without a trace of embarrassment. Which, Yamaguchi supposed, made sense; he had nothing to be embarrassed about, after all. But the revelation made Yamaguchi's own face feel suddenly hot and his heart started thumping erratically in his chest. He remembered Tsukki telling him about the girl from Niiyama with her own girlfriend, and how they had a lot in common.

Tanaka laughed. "So I did," he admitted. "Okay, then I throw my turn back to myself."

"Can he do that?" Kageyama asked.

"Yes, I can do that!" Tanaka said. "All right! Never have I ever had a crush on another guy." This time, he didn't drink, but Nishinoya drank as enthusiastically as before. Hinata drank. _Kageyama_ drank. A couple of the first years drank, studiously staring at their futons the whole time. Tsukishima uncapped his water bottle and tipped it back; Yamaguchi watched the long line of his throat gulping water and swallowed hard.

Then Yamaguchi put his cup to his lips and took a long drink himself. He knew it was just a stupid party game and it didn't really matter, but Yamaguchi Tadashi wasn't a liar. When he put his cup down again, Tsukishima was watching him.

"Okay then," Tanaka said, nodding with approval. "Lots of flexibility from Karasuno. Good to know!"

The game went on for a little while longer until Yachi came out of her room to order them all to bed. By then, the whole team knew about Ennoshita's thing for Sailor Moon, and how Kageyama had a crush on his math teacher. But nothing else shook Yamaguchi to the core the way knowing, for sure, that Tsukishima's only crushes had been on guys. It wasn't a declaration of love, but it was still another of Tsukki's doors of possibility opening.

Yamaguchi lay on his futon, staring up at Yachi's ceiling. He rustled his blankets. He sighed, restless, and rolled onto his stomach. Then he hugged his pillow tight and rolled toward Tsukishima.

"Stop," Tsukishima whispered.

"Tsukki, I'm so tired," he whispered back.

Tsukishima let out a huff – laughter or annoyance, Yamaguchi couldn't tell. Probably some of both. "There's an easy solution to that."

"I know," Yamaguchi said. "I think I'm just past the point of tired into wired. Do you ever get that?"

"Never," Tsukishima said. His voice was muffled now, like he was pressing his face into his pillow. Yamaguchi slid closer so he could make out the shape of him better in the dark, moving right up to the edge of his futon. He was reminded of how last year he stopped staying over Tsukishima's house so much because of things like this. The idea of Tsukki sleepy, warm, and pliant was dangerous, and Yamaguchi's imagination grabbed onto anything to use later. He knew he'd be thinking about this very moment the next time he was in his own bed, alone, and his cheeks burned with that knowledge.

Yamaguchi cleared his throat. "What are you thinking about?"

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima warned, but then he sighed and said, "Our match tomorrow, and the one the day after, if we win. Getting to spring nationals again. My own bed at home, and Hachiko. I don't think my parents play with her enough when I'm not there."

Yamaguchi snorted, covering his mouth to muffle the sound. "You'll see her tomorrow night, and you can tell her all about our glorious win."

Tsukishima rolled onto his back and Yamaguchi could just make out Tsukishima smiling in the dark. His arm was close by, hand palm up. "She loves volleyball stories," he said. "It's nice having someone in my corner."

"She's not the only one," Yamaguchi said. His hand seemed to move on its own then, onto Tsukki's futon. Their hands were so close together that Yamaguchi could feel the warmth radiating off of Tsukishima's skin. Tsukishima looked over at him then, and their eyes met.

"I know that," Tsukishima said. "You think I don't know?" He moved his hand just enough that their pinkies overlapped, and for a second Yamaguchi forgot how to breathe. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?" Yamaguchi asked, his voice shakier than he'd like.

"For coming along to lunch with my brother and Tanaka's sister," he said. "I would have gone crazy without you there with me."

"It was nothing," Yamaguchi said. Then he added, "I wanted to go." _I'd go anywhere, as long as you wanted me there with you._

"You played really well today," Tsukishima added, and Yamaguchi felt like he might float away from the praise. Maybe he'd already fallen asleep.

"Oh," breathed Yamaguchi. "You did, too. You always do."

Tsukishima rubbed his pinky back and forth against Yamaguchi's then, which fired up some nerve center in Yamaguchi's brain, making his leg jerk. He was glad he was already under his blanket.

"Go to sleep, Yamaguchi," said Tsukishima. He didn't move away.

"Okay. Good night, Tsukki." Yamaguchi didn't move either and, after a while, he fell asleep with Tsukishima still touching him.

*

Ukai eyed everyone critically when they gathered up in a huddle a few minutes before match time. Then he gave a satisfied nod and said, "Good work, Yachi-san. They all look like they're ready to play today. I expect you cracked the whip last night?"

Yachi blushed. "Yes! No! Maybe. Ennoshita-san helped!"

Ennoshita shrugged. "Obviously, I did what had to be done. What else is a captain supposed to do?"

"Be nice always and super supportive?" Tanaka suggested.

Ennoshita considered this. "Nah."

Yamaguchi gazed past the huddle and over at Johzenji. They had a new girl manager, nearly as cute as Yachi, and she and the coach seemed to be keeping the team in line more than he remembered from their match from last year. They looked strong. A team who took down Date Tech shouldn't be underestimated.

"What are you looking at?" Tsukishima asked, then straightened up to follow his gaze. Terushima caught their eye then. He waved and blew a kiss to Tsukishima, who went a little pink and looked away. Yamaguchi didn't like it; girls confessed to Tsukki all the time, and though he was politer to them than most people would assume, it didn't really fluster him. The only time Yamaguchi could remember Tsukishima being thrown off around a girl was when Nakamura-san kept complimenting his volleyball, but that wasn't romantic and Tsukishima didn't do well with compliments in general. It was half the reason Yamaguchi did it so much, just for him to get used to hearing the things he should be hearing. Well, that and he really did believe everything he said. Tsukki was great and everyone deserved to know that.

But this? Terushima certainly hadn't complimented Tsukishima, not yesterday and not now, and it seemed to throw Tsukishima completely off. With the revelation from last night, it occurred to Yamaguchi that maybe Tsukishima wasn't used to guys flirting with him. Maybe he liked it. Did what Yamaguchi did with Tsukishima count as flirting? Yamaguchi didn't know. So, yeah, he didn't like it.

"What's that guy's deal?" Yamaguchi heard himself saying.

Tsukishima shrugged. "Mind games, probably."

"He doesn't seem the type," Yamaguchi said. "What if they're not?"

"I don't know," Tsukishima said. "I guess I let him down, if it comes to that."

"So, you're not, um –" Yamaguchi chose his words carefully. "— interested?"

Tsukishima snorted. "The things you think about me." He walked away then, over to Kageyama and the two of them quickly got into a deep discussion, so Yamaguchi couldn't even ask what he'd meant by that.

"Ready to play?" Hinata asked. He was bouncing up and down, warming up his legs. Yamaguchi joined him and it turned into some weird competitive frog impression game to see who could leap higher. Hinata caught a case of the giggles, and Yamaguchi followed. They both stopped and sat on the sideline, out of breath and waiting for the match to begin.

"I think I'm ready," Yamaguchi said. "Being a starter really takes it out of you, though."

"Yeah," Hinata agreed, "but it's sooooo much better than not starting." Standing next to them, Narita looked down and gave Hinata the stinkeye. "Sorry, sorry! But it is," he stage-whispered to Yamaguchi.

"I like it more, too," Yamaguchi stage-whispered back. "What do you think of our chances?"

Hinata considered this seriously. "Well, we beat them last season, so we have the upper-hand there. But they also might want revenge for what happened last time, and their third-years have a lot more experience now. _And_ they beat Dateko. Koganegawa is so pissed off about that! He keeps emailing me angry and sad faces."

"He emails you?" Yamaguchi said. Hinata was friends with so many other teams.

"Yeah, and Tsukishima, too, though of course he never answers them." Hinata rolled his eyes. "He could have so many friends if he just made more of an effort."

Yamaguchi chuckled. "I think just our team is pushing the bounds of acceptable for Tsukki."

"And he doesn't even like us!"

"Yeah, he does," Yamaguchi said.

Hinata looked skeptical. "If you say so."

"No, really! I played with him in middle school, and he _only_ spoke to me, unless it was, like, dire. Look," Yamaguchi said, gesturing. Tanaka and Ennoshita had joined Tsukishima and Kageyama's conversation, and they were all talking animatedly. "He likes everyone."

"You really know a lot about Tsukishima," Hinata said.

Yamaguchi laughed and scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "It's kind of my area of expertise."

Tsukishima looked up then, like he sensed they were discussing them. Yamaguchi smiled and waved, and Tsukishima quickly looked away again.

"Well, I'm glad!" Hinata jumped up again, and offered Yamaguchi a hand up. "It helps us all understand him more."

The whistle blew then and Ukai waved Karasuno onto the court.

Yamaguchi started out in the back row, serving first after Ennoshita won the coin toss. Johzenji was prepared for floaters, though, probably because they practiced with them, and they were able to score the first point. Most of Johzenji leapt into the air and cheered. Yamaguchi swore loudly enough that Tanaka whistled, overhearing him.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" he asked, then clapped once. "Don't worry. We'll get it back," he said, and Yamaguchi nodded.

The match was very tough and no one was getting a point break. They were both high-level teams, and it was easy to tell that this was the match to watch for any spectators without any particular loyalties. Most of the regular Karasuno cheerleaders were there, and Johzenji had some students behind their school banner, but the stands were filled out in a way that most matches usually weren't. While Yamaguchi was out for Nishinoya, a girl in the crowd screamed out for Terushima after he spiked, and he smiled and blew her a kiss.

"Pay attention," someone on Karasuno's side said. Yamaguchi realized after a second that it was Tsukishima.

"Give me something to pay attention to then," Terushima said, and Yamaguchi could see the tension in Tsukki's shoulders at that.

When Yamaguchi switched out to the vanguard, Tsukishima grabbed his elbow before heading back to serve. "Their captain turns toward his spike before he does it. If you see him looking at anyone other than you, switch places as quickly as possible." Yamaguchi wrinkled his forehead, about to say he wasn't as good a block reader as Tsukishima. "You notice little details all the time, Yamaguchi. You can do this."

There was a chance ball a minute later, and Yamaguchi kept his eyes trained on Terushima. Sure enough, he caught him looking in Ennoshita's direction, probably betting that their captain was better on the back line than up front. Yamaguchi pulled Ennoshita's arm, switching them right before they jumped up for a two-man block and Yamaguchi was able to swat it down onto Johzenji's court.

"Damn, that was cool!" Terushima said, shaking his head in admiration afterward. "Guess I won't try coming between you two after all. You guys are scary when you want revenge."

"Wh—what?"

Terushima jerked his head toward Tsukishima who was gearing up to serve again. "You and the cute one. I get it, though. I'd be protective, too."

"He's messing with you," Kageyama muttered, and Yamaguchi _knew_ that, but it was still annoying. "I'll help you keep getting revenge, though."

Yamaguchi eyes widened, but then he smirked. "Let's do this," he said.

When the ball came back into their court, Tsukishima managed to receive it, though not cleanly. "Sorry," he yelled, but Kageyama was already setting it and Yamaguchi was up in the air to spike before he could even think about it.

"A break!" screamed the cheering section and everyone on Karasuno's sidelines.

"Good," Kageyama said to Yamaguchi, his eyes lit up.

"Thanks!" Yamaguchi said, glowing. He then called sweetly over his shoulder, "Nice serve, Tsukki!"

On his third serve, Tsukishima tried his new directed jump serve instead of his usual overhand serve and got what Yamaguchi thought was probably his first service ace ever.

Across the net, Terushima whistled. "Yeah, I picked the wrong people to mess with."

Yamaguchi didn't respond but he did lift his chin and stare at Terushima triumphantly.

Karasuno won the match in straight sets and moved on to Miyagi prefecture finals for the second year in a row.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, sorry I'm a day late! Real life getting in the way, as it does so far. But this is one of my favorite chapters! I'm a sucker for a good stupid party game.


	10. A Lizard Picture, Just for You

After their match, the team went to catch the end of Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai. Yamaguchi was deep into a conversation with Hinata and Yachi about a game Nekoma's Kozume had lent to Hinata, waiting around for everyone to finish getting ready, when Tsukishima tapped him on the shoulder.

"Tanaka-san and I are going to watch the end of Niiyama's match instead. Nakamura-san wanted me to watch her receives,” Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi nodded. He waited for his stomach to do the weird swooping thing it had before whenever Tsukishima talked about her, but nothing happened. "I'll take notes for you, Tsukki!”

"Thank you,” Tsukishima said seriously, and Yamaguchi didn't think that was just for the notes. "Save me a seat for the ride back.”

"Have fun with your girlfriends!” Nishinoya said as Tanaka and Tsukishima walked off in the other direction.

"She's not my girlfriend!” Tanaka called back.

"I don't like girls like that,” Tsukishima reminded them. Yamaguchi thought he was happy that he couldn't put a cork back in that bottle.

"What are you smiling about?” Nishinoya asked Yamaguchi, after they left.

Yamaguchi bit his lip and shook his head. "Nothing. Just happy we're going to the finals,” he said quickly.

Noya grinned and reached up – _way up_ – to sling an arm around Yamaguchi's shoulders. "Me too. Now let's find out which team we don't want to play we're playing tomorrow.”

*

Yamaguchi stared at his ceiling. When he got home, he thought it was nice to be back after all those loud matches and a night away, but now that he was alone in his room, he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

He could play a game, or watch TV, or mess around online. He could read the dossier on Shiratorizawa's players that Yachi's assistants had prepared for them, since they beat Aoba Johsai deep into their third set. He could even tackle the stack of make-up work he had to do after missing school for volleyball. But none of that interested him right then. Something felt empty.

Yamaguchi's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he eagerly scrambled to dig it out, hoping it was Tsukishima. It didn't matter that they'd just spent the better part of two days together, and it didn't matter that they'd parted ways on their walk home just a few hours ago. This was desperate and pathetic, even for him, but he didn't care.

The message read: _Hachiko's forgotten me._

Yamaguchi laughed out loud. _lizard brains are small_ , he wrote back.

 _Pogonas are very intelligent,_ came Tsukishima's immediate response.

"Tsukki, jeez,” Yamaguchi muttered under his breath. He wrote back, _for lizards._

The next text was a picture, Hachiko in her pink strawberry collar, scratching at sand in her vivarium. She was basking under her heat lamp. _You wanted to see her other collar, right?_

 _i saw it on your phone!_ Yamaguchi remembered yesterday, scrolling through Tsukishima's camera roll and seeing all the pictures he'd never been allowed to see before.

_Oh. Well, here's a picture of your own. A gift from Hachiko to you._

Yamaguchi sat down on his floor, in front of his full-length mirror and took a picture of himself. It wasn't the best picture ever, but he attached it and sent it before he had a chance to second-guess himself. _since i don't have a pet, you'll have to settle for this._

Tsukishima's reply was instant. _I'll add it to my collection,_ he said. Yamaguchi laughed to himself, but before he could even respond, Tsukki sent another message. _That's a really good picture of you._ Then his phone vibrated again. _Send another one._

Yamaguchi's eyes widened. He pinched himself, just in case he'd fallen asleep when he was staring up at the ceiling. It hurt a lot. Then he closed his eyes, typed _you first_ and hit send before he could second guess himself.

Another messaged buzzed. It was a picture of Hachiko sleeping. Yamaguchi swore under his breath.

_tsukki (◕︵◕)_

There was no message for a while, and just when Yamaguchi was about to send another text saying he was only kidding, that he didn't really mind, Tsukishima messaged him again with an attached image.

Yamaguchi opened the picture and swallowed hard. Tsukishima took the picture lying down on Akiteru's bed, next to Hachiko's vivarium, his phone held out at an arm's length. His glasses were pushed up on top of his head, messing up his hair, and his eyes weren't focused on the camera, probably because he couldn't see. He'd changed into an old t-shirt, one that was worn and threadbare, the neck stretched out enough that the headphones looped around his neck seemed to highlight his shoulders and collarbones.

"Unfair,” Yamaguchi breathed. His phone buzzed again.

_I didn't look at that before I sent it. I hope it's okay._

_really good. send another one._

_Isn't your collection big enough already?_

_never._

There was no response for a long time. Yamaguchi thought maybe Tsukishima had gotten tired of sending texts or had fallen asleep; it had been a long day after all. He should probably go to bed, too. Yamaguchi threw his phone on the bed and went to brush his teeth and wash up. When he came back, he had a new message from Tsukishima.

_I'll send you another if you send me another._

How many messages had Tsukki deleted before settling on that one?

 _i thought you'd fallen asleep,_ Yamaguchi replied.

_Soon. So, no deal?_

Yamaguchi shook his head. This wasn't what _just friends_ did with each other, and they both knew it. It was like instead of bulldozing down the wall of friendship they'd built up over the years, they were both nudging it just a little, over and over, with presents and late-night confessions and pictures. But after a certain point, that wall was going to tumble down.

_give me a minute_

Yamaguchi took a deep breath. He pulled off his shirt and threw it onto his laundry pile, then he got into bed. Whatever bravery he'd built up didn't extend to leaving the blankets off, even though Tsukishima saw him shirtless pretty much every day when they got changed for practice or games. But this was different, the intimacy of it all, the _deliberateness_ of it. It meant more; Yamaguchi knew it, and he suspected Tsukishima did, too. He bit his lip and stretched his arm out over his head, then waited for the shutter-click noise to go off. Yamaguchi got why Tsukki couldn't bring himself to look when he sent his picture as he sent his off, hoping it wasn't too blurry.

A second later, he got a message that just said _Yamaguchi_.

 _that's me,_ he replied. His face felt all hot and he was smiling at nothing. This was all so scary, and exciting, and new. Yamaguchi was addicted.

 _Here's me,_ Tsukishima sent, along with a picture of himself in a similar state. No glasses again, in bed, his old shirt gone and replaced with a blush that started on his cheeks and spread across his shoulders and the part of his chest Yamaguchi could see. How far did that go down? Yamaguchi wondered, knowing he was blushing himself. _I like your freckles,_ Tsukishima added.

"I like your everything,” Yamaguchi murmured to himself. But all he sent back was, _you've never taken a bad picture in your life_. He almost asked Tsukishima to call him then, but that was way too dangerous. He knew he was going to be jacking off to this as soon as possible, but he also knew he couldn't resist waiting if he had Tsukki's voice warm in his ear, and that was just over the line. Unless Tsukki also… Yamaguchi shook his head, saving the image for a little later. _since we're both ready for bed, we probably should go there. we've got a big day tomorrow. i'll see you in the morning?_

_Yes. Sleep well._

_you too._

That night, Yamaguchi took his phone to bed with him.

*  
The next morning, Yamaguchi frowned at his phone as he walked to Sakanoshita with Tsukishima to meet up with the other second years before heading to their match. 

"Why do you look like that?” Tsukishima asked. 

Yamaguchi glanced over just in time to catch Tsukishima reaching under the headphones looped around his neck to scratch an itch. He couldn't help staring as Tsukishima's fingers tugged his collar aside, remembering the two pictures he now had saved on the phone. He shook his head to clear it. "What do I look like?” he asked.

"Like you've forgotten something.”

"Ah,” sighed Yamaguchi. "That's because I did. I forgot to plug in my phone last night.” For certain definitions of forgot, that was. "It's probably going to die during the match.”

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything else. Right then, Yamaguchi really wished he could read Tsukishima's mind. Did Tsukishima suspect that the reason his phone never made it to its charger was because Yamaguchi fell asleep looking at him? Had Tsukishima done the same?

"I hope I don't get stranded in Sendai,” Yamaguchi said, pouting a little. "I'll probably be so tired after we kick Shiratorizawa's butts again, and who knows what could happen? I'd have to hitchhike back home and I know you'd worry about me, Tsukki.”

"You're so dramatic,” Tsukishima said, but he didn't deny it. When Yamaguchi glanced sideways at him again, the tips of his ears were pink, which was cute. "You can use my phone, if you need it. And you're not going to get stranded. Just – ah, just don't lose sight of me.”

Yamaguchi grinned. "Okay, I won't. Pinky swear!” He reached out and briefly tangled their pinkies together, letting go and running ahead toward the store before Tsukishima could properly react. 

Hinata jumped on him as soon he jogged up. "Coach Ukai's going to walk over with us,” he said. He pointed to the side of the building. "He's over there smoking, but he didn't want to do it around us because he doesn't want to stunt our young lungs.”

"Well, that's considerate of him,” Yamaguchi said, hiking his bag up on his shoulder. Kageyama came tearing around the corner and ran directly into Tsukishima. Both Hinata and Yamaguchi froze, waiting for the explosion, but Tsukki just sighed irritably and pulled his headphones over his ears so he could ignore everyone more effectively. That meant he was in a good mood, in the zone already, or both.

"Hinata! Jerk! Dumbass!” Kageyama yelled.

"What kind of greeting is that?!” Hinata yelled back.

"You were supposed to call me this morning,” Kageyama said. "I nearly overslept! What if I didn't wake up? What if you left for the match without me?” Yamaguchi guessed this meant _he_ wasn't in the zone yet.

"I _did_ call,” argued Hinata. "You didn't pick up. Then I called your house line! Your mom woke you up, didn't she?”

Kageyama frowned. "Yes.”

"Did you check your phone for any missed calls?”

Kageyama dug his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. "Oh. Sorry.”

"Stupid,” Hinata said, but he sounded almost fond about it. "You really think we'd leave for the match without you?”

"Maybe,” Kageyama mumbled.

"And he calls you the dumbass,” Tsukishima said. He still had his headphones over his ears.

Hinata shook his head. "I knew you weren't listening to anything, you nosy skyscraper. It's fine! We're winning today, right?”

"Of course,” Tsukishima said.

"Yes!” Kageyama and Yamaguchi said together.

"Yes!” said Yachi, coming up behind Yamaguchi. He jumped. "What are we all agreeing to?”

"Winning!” Hinata said. He looped his arm around Yachi's shoulders, probably because she was the only one who was short enough that he could do that comfortably. "Come on, Ukai-san! We have to go beat a powerhouse into the ground again.”

Ukai emerged from around the corner and stubbed out the last of his cigarette, laughing. "Roger that,” he said, ducking into the store to yell to his mother that they were leaving.

As they started the walk toward Karasuno, Yamaguchi couldn't stop grinning. 

*

"Niiyama made it to the finals, too, right, Ryuu?” Nishinoya asked as they climbed out of the bus at Sendai. It was a nice change, having a bus after all the cramped transport vans to and from school the other two days of the tournament. But the vice-principal wouldn't shell out for the good stuff unless they made it to the finals. "Do you think you'll get all romantic in Tokyo, if you both make it to spring qualifiers again?”

Tanaka shoved Nishinoya. "Don't be a jerk. We're there to play volleyball.”

Nishinoya nodded knowingly. "Got it,” he said. "Kanoka-chan said she won't make out with you there because it's bad luck.”

"I didn't say that!” 

"The Tanaka Curse! Tongue of Doom!” Nishinoya shouted gleefully, then started sprinting off toward the gymnasium, Tanaka hot on his heels and yelling at him.

"How are they third years?” Aiba wondered out loud. Next to him, Kiyota nodded his head in agreement.

Yamaguchi laughed. "I'm still not completely sure about that.”

"Arrested development is an ugly thing,” said Tsukishima. The first years cracked up and jogged ahead. Yamaguchi watched as Tsukishima shook his head and gazed up at the building. "I can't believe we have to do this again.”

"Are you nervous, Tsukki?” asked Yamaguchi, surprised.

Tsukishima shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe,” he admitted. "Last year no one had any expectations. I think I do better in that kind of situation, instead of ones like these.”

"Ones like these?”

"Where people believe in us.”

Yamaguchi rolled his eyes. "I've always believed in us,” he said.

"I know.” Tsukishima briefly touched Yamaguchi's elbow. "I'm glad.”

Ennoshita came up from behind and wiggled his way in between them, slinging an arm around both of their shoulders. "Not to ruin a tender moment, but we have to go in and warm up.”

"Sorry, Captain,” Yamaguchi said, trying not to blush. He put on his best game face and headed inside.

When Yamaguchi got onto the court before their warmup, Shiratorizawa was just wrapping up. Hinata and Tsukishima were both standing on the sidelines, their arms crossed over their chests, shaking their heads and looking serious. The matching expressions were funny enough that Yamaguchi had to suppress a smile, especially with Hinata not even coming up to Tsukki's shoulder, but when he followed their gaze, he saw what all the fuss was about. Shirabu wasn't setting right then, but standing off to the side talking to Goshiki; instead it was a guy around Kageyama's height who Yamaguchi didn't recognize. He tossed high and fast to Kawanishi, who cross-spiked pretty impressively for a warm-up.

"Do you know him?” Yamaguchi asked, coming up to stand next to Hinata.

Tsukishima and Hinata both nodded. "He's a first year,” said Tsukishima.

"That's Shouta-kun,” Hinata said. "He went to training camp with me and Tsukishima last year.”

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows. "When he was in middle school?”

"Didn't you read your dossier, Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asked mildly. 

Yamaguchi scratched his head. "I flipped through it!” he said, defending himself. "But I don't really remember any details about the first years.”

"You really missed out. Endo-san and Watanabe-san were very thorough about him.”

Hinata snickered. "They had candid shots of him practicing. They even included his favorite foods and the pop idols he likes! I think they might have a crush on him.”

Sure enough, Endo and Watanabe were tugging on Yachi's sleeves and pointing across the net. Yachi indulgently rolled her eyes.

"Kageyama! Kageyama!”

Everyone whirled around and looked up. Kunimi and Kindaichi from Aoba Johsai were both hanging over the railing.

"What are you doing here?” Kageyama asked.

"Watching you beat Shiratorizawa, hopefully,” Kindachi said. "We wanted to warn you about that setter.”

Kageyama looked confused, and honestly Yamaguchi couldn't blame him. "Why?” he asked.

"We're bitter about losing,” Kunimi said.

"We want revenge!” Kindaichi said.

"Also, we're petty,” Kunimi added. "You didn't get to see him because they switched him out for the third set, but that first-year setter is excellent, and he has a great partnership with Goshiki. Watch out for the two of them together.”

Kindaichi nodded. "And Goshiki's gotten way stronger.”

"Yeah, I don't know what they put in the food at their school, but dude's put on about twenty pounds of solid muscle,” said Kunimi.

Yamaguchi squinted at Goshiki. He did look bigger than he had last year, but he wasn't in action and was pretty far away, so it was hard to tell. Still, he appreciated the warning. It looked like all of Karasuno had been listening to Kageyama's conversation, too, given the hard looks that were suddenly plastered across everyone's faces.

"Thanks,” Kageyama said, and his old teammates nodded at him and walked away to sit higher up in the bleachers. He still looked befuddled by the whole thing. Hinata walked over to him then, and they bent their heads together, probably planning something.

Shiratorizawa's cheering section started filing in then, impressive as always. But a lot of Karasuno had made it down, too, and it looked like most of the players from other teams were sitting on their side, too. Even after winning the championship last year, Karasuno still had an underdog air.

Tsukishima took a step closer to Yamaguchi's side.

"I'll never get used to the big schools and their cheering squads,” Yamaguchi admitted.

"Well, the finals are a big deal,” Tsukishima said. "Are you ready to start your first five-set match?”

Yamaguchi's eyes widened. "I don't know. How did you do it last year?”

"Well, you might remember I got a break in the last set, but I don't recommend my method,” Tsukishima said. He bent down to dig through his bag and handed Yamaguchi his roll of athletic tape, flexing his fingers as if remembering when he hurt his hand. "Will you help me tape up?”

Yamaguchi nodded. "Of course.” He took Tsukishima's hand and wound tape around his left index and middle finger, and then his right. Then he ran his finger up and down Tsukishima's palm, starting in between his pinky and ring finger, right where he cut himself during last year's finals. When he looked up, Tsukishima was frozen like a statue and staring at him wide-eyed. Yamaguchi swallowed, but he didn't let go of Tsukki's hand. "Sorry, I was just remembering –"

"It's okay,” Tsukishima said quickly. His voice was rough.

"Don't scare me like that again,” Yamaguchi said.

Tsukishima blinked. "You were scared?”

"Well, not _that_ scared,” Yamaguchi admitted. "I was too involved in the match to think that anything seriously bad happened to your hand. But yeah, I thought maybe you wouldn't get to play again after doing so well, and I thought we might lose because you weren't there.” He finally let his hand drop to his side again; Tsukishima's hand hovered in between them for a moment, like Yamaguchi might change his mind and come back. But then Tsukishima put his hand down, too. "So, promise me you won't do that again this year,” Yamaguchi finished.

One corner of Tsukishima's mouth quirked up, and Yamaguchi suddenly wanted to press his lips there, right in front of everyone. "I promise,” he said. "But you have to promise me you won't trip and fall flat on your face when they announce your name at the start of the match.”

Yamaguchi's mouth dropped open. "Tsukki! That's so mean!”

Tsukishima laughed, bright and happy, startling everyone around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the plus side, i really love this chapter. on the minus, i was late posting. thanks again for all the sweet comments and kudos! i really appreciate them.


	11. Why Everyone Hates Karasuno

Yamaguchi didn't trip when they announced his name. He shook so badly that he was lucky he didn't vibrate out of his shoes, but he didn't fall. He noticed Ennoshita looked about as wound up as he did, and he guessed he wasn't the only one because Narita and Kinoshita started yelling from the sidelines that they'd be happy to swap out before the match even started.

"You two are all talk. You'd piss your pants!" Ennoshita snapped back, and everyone cracked up. Shirabu looked pretty confused when Ennoshita was still grinning at the coin toss, especially since he kept it up after Karasuno lost it and had to receive first.

Everything was slow to start, the players just feeling each other out. Yamaguchi could tell Tsukishima was assessing everything from the net, even though Yamaguchi was behind him, just because Shirabu kept sending glances his way. It made sense; of all people, Shirabu had the most reason to be wary of Tsukki. 

Just as Yamaguchi rotated up to the vanguard, the whistle blew for Shiratorizawa, indicating a player change.

"Already?" Tanaka muttered next to him. 

Yamaguchi shrugged. "Pinch server, maybe?"

But no, the first year setter was holding up the number one paddle so he could change with Shirabu.

"They did that on purpose," Ennoshita muttered. "They were waiting for Hinata and Tsukishima to go to the back. They're trying to keep the rotation this way for as long as possible." 

"Well, what the fuck?" Tanaka yelled over Yamaguchi's head. "Do they think we're chopped liver?"

"Probably!" Ennoshita said cheerfully. "Let's show them they're wrong."

This was easier said than done. Kageyama was reliable on the back line because he was reliable anywhere, and when Nishinoya was in play instead of Tsukki, receiving went pretty well, especially since Goshiki with twenty extra pounds of muscle still wasn't Ushijima. But Hinata and Tsukishima still both had shaky serves, even with the extra practice they'd both been putting in, and Yamaguchi just wasn't as good at reading blocks as Tsukishima was. Shiratorizawa started to break away.

Yamaguchi made a note to ask Tsukishima for help with blocking, even if they didn't make it for Spring Nationals. There was always next year, after all. But then he looked at Tanaka and Ennoshita and thought, no, this can't be it for them. Not yet. He set his mouth in determination.

Yunohama served directly at Hinata, definitely aiming for the weak spot in the Karasuno defense, but Hinata managed to receive it with his shoulder, setting up a toss for Kageyama, who got in a decent straight spike for Tanaka. The Karasuno side of the crowd started cheering, but Shiratorizawa received it and sent it back over the net. Distantly, Yamaguchi heard Kageyama yelling something indistinct, but he was already jumping on instinct. The next thing he knew people were screaming "Nice block, Yamaguchi!" and his hand stung.

The back and forth went on like that in endless volleys. Unlike last year, Shiratorizawa wasn't taking Karasuno lightly, and also unlike last year, Karasuno had a more polished team. The first set went into extra points before Shiratorizawa managed to rip it away, but the second set went to Karasuno. Yamaguchi's legs were starting to feel like lead by the third set, and his blocks weren't holding up. When Karasuno blew the whistle for a player change, Yamaguchi was angry but unsurprised.

"Chill out for a little bit," Narita told him as Yamaguchi grabbed the nine paddle from him. "You'll be back in when it's your turn to serve."

Tsukishima rotated out for Nishinoya then, too, and came to sit down next to him on the bench. He wiped his face and neck with a towel, and drank some water. "You're doing well," he muttered, looking straight ahead so it took Yamaguchi a second to realize he was talking to him. "Don't let the break derail you."

Yamaguchi nodded. "I'm okay, Tsukki. My legs are madder than I am."

Tsukishima tapped Yamaguchi's thigh with the back of his hand. "Go easy on him," he said, and tapped it again. Yamaguchi laughed, while sweeping away the thought that wanted Tsukishima to keep his hand there. On the court, Hinata ran and jumped and everyone looked at him while Kageyama set to Narita, who got in a point. Yamaguchi leapt up and yelled. The whistle blew and both sides did a player change, Yamaguchi back in to serve and a switch for Nishinoya and Tsukishima, plus Shiratorizawa putting in their first-year setter again.

With Yamaguchi on the line, the Shiratorizawa crowd got loud, singing their school song to distract him, but Saeko-san had shown up with her taiko corps again. The whistle blew, Yamaguchi inhaled and exhaled, and focused on the beat of the drummers and his team calling "Nice serve" and "Get us ten points!" He ran up and did a jump float, awkwardly received by Shiratorizawa's libero before going out. The Karasuno side went crazy at that. Hinata bounced the ball back to him.

"One more, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima called, folding his fingers behind his head. 

This time, he did a regular jump serve, putting as much power into it as he could, even with his arms and legs heavier than he was used to. It went to a good place, toward the other side's back line, but Shiratorizawa wasn't a powerhouse for no reason; they returned the ball and the first-year setter got it to Goshiki. Yamaguchi hunched down, but out of the corner of his eye he could already see Tsukki moving. 

Was he going to force Goshiki into a cross-spike because he preferred straight shots? Was he going for a one-touch to make receiving easier for the back line? Yamaguchi shook his head. Tsukishima stopped suddenly and leapt vertically, his palm connecting with the ball with a smacking sound. No one on Shiratorizawa was able to react in time and Yamaguchi could hear Tsukishima's hissed, " _Yes_ ," as his feet touched the ground again.

"NICE ONE, TSUKKI!" Yamaguchi yelled, his heart leaping into his throat. He heard Akiteru's voice yelling, "That's my _brother_ ," from the crowd and he let out a delighted laugh as Tanaka jumped up to rub Tsukishima's hair.

"One more point!" screamed Ukai and Takeda from the sidelines. Not surprisingly, Shiratorizawa called a time out, so Ukai gave them a pep talk and ruffled Yamaguchi's hair, and told them all to just keep doing what they'd been doing.

"We're going to Nationals again," Ukai assured him, and Yamaguchi felt himself nodding in agreement.

The ref tossed the ball to Tsukishima, who caught it and threw it back to Yamaguchi. "If we take this set, we only need one more to win."

Yamaguchi's eyes widened and he nodded, determined. The muscles in his legs were pinging painfully, and he didn't know how he'd be able to pull out another set if they didn't end this set now, let alone two. Yachi had started chanting his name from the bench, and all the guys on the sidelines joined her. He could hear Shimada and Takinoue shouting, "Go, go, Tadashi!" from the crowd. Yamaguchi's heart thumped in his chest and he could hear the rushing blood inside his ears, but the beat wasn't wild and when the ref's whistle blew, he was able to tune it all out.

 _You've got this_ , he thought to himself.

Yamaguchi threw the ball in the air, aimed, and connected with just the right spin. When his feet touched ground again, he saw the first-year setter diving for the receive, but he missed and the serve was in.

"YAMAGUCHI!" Hinata screamed, launching himself across the court and tackling him to the ground. He didn't stay there long, though, because someone hauled Hinata up by the back of his jersey. Tsukishima sighed as Yamaguchi climbed to his feet again. 

"The match isn't over. We still need him," Tsukishima reminded Hinata, who started brushing imaginary dust off of Yamaguchi's jersey. 

"Sorry, Yamaguchi, sorry!" Hinata apologized profusely. He gave a low bow.

Yamaguchi laughed. "Stop. Save your energy for the next set."

"The last set," Kageyama said from a few steps away.

"No, it's only the fourth!" Hinata replied. Then, he got it. "Oh!"

Kageyama sighed and shook his head. "Dumbass."

"The last set," Yamaguchi agreed.

*

When the fourth set was tied up ten-all and Shiratorizawa had just switched out Shirabu for their first-year setter when Goshiki came up to the front line _again_ , Coach Ukai called a time-out, which seemed a little early. They all jogged over and Ukai assessed his players, who all looked pretty worn out by this time. 

"Yamaguchi, do you think you can set?"

"Me?" he squeaked. He hadn't set since middle school, he didn't think, and even then he hadn't been very good at it. His coach back then told him he was too obvious about his movements, which was probably true. Yamaguchi didn't have a very good poker face. "I— I guess I can try."

Part of him still couldn't believe that he played for a team that would try new things in the middle of matches, especially not the prefectural finals, but it had worked for them before and Yamaguchi definitely trusted Ukai. Their coach outlined a plan to shut Goshiki down, mainly by taking advantage of how good Kageyama was.

"I'm not very good at setting," Yamaguchi told Kageyama at the end of the time out, as they were jogging back onto the court. He wasn't feeling very confident, especially with how tired he was. His arms were joining his legs in feeling like jelly and his entire jersey was soaked in sweat.

"You can do it," Kageyama said, which Yamaguchi interpreted to mean _you will do it_. Yamaguchi remembered how badly he felt last year when he messed up against Aoba Johsai and especially when he hesitated against Wakutani South. He remembered he'd vowed never to pull that kind of thing again.

"Now or never," Tsukishima told him. "The king doesn't allow mistakes, after all, right, Kageyama?"

"Shut up!" Kageyama ordered, but he was smirking a little as he said it. Yamaguchi rolled his eyes. They were so much alike sometimes, up to and including how they'd both be mad if Yamaguchi said that out loud.

Goshiki was right in front of him then, and he definitely had grown since they'd played last year and had a confidence in his abilities that wasn't there before. He didn't provoke Yamaguchi. In fact, he didn't seem to be paying much attention to Yamaguchi at all, but that was Goshiki's problem, not Yamaguchi's. People underestimating him could only be used to his advantage. Shiratorizawa was an amazing school, but they weren't gods; no one knew that better than Karasuno.

It took a couple of plays, but then Hinata bumped to Yamaguchi who leaned back to set. He could hear a wave of response from the other side and the crowd when he did it, and he smiled to himself as he set the ball as fast and high as he could. It wasn't a good set, Yamaguchi could admit that, but it was good _enough_. No one was expecting Kageyama to spike from the back line after all, and they were able to pull away by a point with that play.

" _Yes_!" Yamaguchi shouted as Kageyama's feet slammed onto the ground again, and the rest of the team surrounded them in excitement as they did. Yamaguchi got a glance at Tsukishima's blissful expression before it settled into neutrality again, and he locked that look away in his memory bank so he could remember it whenever he wanted.

"God," Yamaguchi overheard Goshiki say to Shouta, as he shook his head, "this is why everyone hates Karasuno."

Yamaguchi grinned, and kept on grinning until Tanaka scored the winning point for them. The only scream that beat Karasuno's down on the court was from Amanai-san, up in the stands, and then chaos erupted everywhere. Yamaguchi got tackled to the ground by Kinoshita and Narita, and the taiko drums banged so hard that Yamaguchi's ears started ringing.

When the third-years rolled off of him, Tsukishima was already there, ready to give him a hand up.

"We won," Yamaguchi said, grinning up at him. They were standing very close together; otherwise, they couldn't hear each other. "We got Nationals again."

"We did," Tsukishima agreed.

"Congratulations, Tsukki." Yamaguchi couldn't stop smiling. "You played so well."

"I didn't do much," Tsukishima said, and Yamaguchi almost rolled his eyes so hard that they fell out of his head, but then Tsukki added, "alone. It was all of us, together, wasn't it?"

And then Tsukishima stepped in and wrapped his arms around Yamaguchi's shoulders, right in front of everyone. "Congratulations, Tadashi," said Tsukishima, right into Yamaguchi's ear. 

That, at least, changed his expression from a stupid grin, though he wasn't sure if stupid surprise was an improvement. Yamaguchi's hands moved almost without his permission, wrapping tight around Tsukishima's waist. They stayed like that for long enough that someone nearby wolf-whistled and Tanaka shouted, "Get a room!"

Tsukishima stepped back and looked over his shoulder. "Are you paying, Tanaka-senpai?"

"Jesus!" Tanaka ran over and punched Tsukishima's arm. "Be more embarrassed. You suck the fun out of everything."

"Sorry," Tsukishima said, not sounding the least bit sorry. Then he turned back to Yamaguchi and went on ignoring Tanaka again.

*

"My phone's dead," Yamaguchi complained on the bus ride back home. 

His limbs felt heavy and nearly dead, but his head and heart were still buzzing with happiness. The feeling was even more intense this year than last; just being able to help, being able to stand on the court with his friends for an entire match, heightened the entire experience. And now in a few months he'd get to go to Saitama with his whole team and do it all over again.

"You'll be asleep in five minutes anyway," Tsukishima said, taking out his own phone and plugging in his headphones to cue up one of his many playlists. 

"Yeah, but I wanted to text my parents and tell them we won." 

Tsukishima nodded. "I'll do it," he said, and messed around with the phone for a minute. 

Yamaguchi leaned over to look at the screen. "You have my mom's cell phone number?"

"Sure," Tsukishima said. 

"Why?"

"For emergencies, like this one." Tsukishima sent off the text, which suffered from the lack of exclamation points Yamaguchi would have used. "I didn't ask for it. She gave it to me," he added, a little defensively.

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows. "Why did she do that?"

"Because she knows you," Tsukishima said, "and she knows you're the type of person who'd forget to charge his phone the night before he was going to be away from home all day."

Yamaguchi leaned back against his seat again. "That's your fault anyway," he mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing!" 

Tsukishima shrugged, then leaned into Yamaguchi's space to put his headphones over his ears so Yamaguchi could listen to his music. Yamaguchi blinked at him. "Close your eyes. Take a nap," Tsukishima advised. His voice was normal, but a little bit of color spread over his nose and cheeks. 

_Cute,_ Yamaguchi thought, but before he could think anything else, Tsukishima was out of his space again and propping up his chin against his hand so he could stare out the window. 

Yamaguchi closed his eyes and drifted off with Tsukki's music in his ears.

*

So many people were packed into the restaurant for the afterparty that Yamaguchi didn't know how they were all going to fit. The team was bigger than last year, they had one more manager, they had more relatives and well-wishers in tow, and the owner was nervously wringing her hands.

"This is becoming a tradition," Ennoshita said to Yamaguchi as they waited to get in the door.

"Tradition might want to consider a bigger place next time," Tsukishima deadpanned from his other side.

Kageyama nudged him from behind. "Why don't you just go home, Tsukishima?" he asked. "You take up a lot of room and you don't eat anyway."

"Why don't you just make Hinata sit in your lap? You two share a brain, you may as well share a seat," Tsukishima said, looking over his shoulder. Kageyama went red and started to lunge forward, forgetting about the crowd.

"Asahi-san!" Nishinoya shouted suddenly, and all the second and third years turned around as Nishinoya practically frog-leapt over the crowd to get at their old senpai. Sugawara and Sawamura were with him, too, all beaming and looking pretty much like Yamaguchi remembered them, aside from Azumane's short haircut and Suga's earring.

"Carrying on the legacy proudly," Sawamura said, clapping Ennoshita on the back. Ennoshita staggered a step forward, but then he bashfully thanked Sawamura for the compliment.

"Did you see the match?" Hinata asked, practically hopping on Sugawara's back. "Did you? Did you?"

"Only on the computer," Sugawara said sadly. "I have a project due, Daichi had to travel an hour south just to get here, let alone to Sendai, and Asahi had work."

"Being an adult is hard!"

Sugawara laughed. "An adult?" he asked. "In a way, I guess we are. But we're planning on coming to Saitama for Spring High, at least for a couple of days."

"Kiyoko-senpai is too!" Yachi said excitedly, waving her phone around. "I texted her after our win, and she said so!"

"Oh man, Ryuu," Nishinoya said, elbowing Tanaka in the side. "How will you cope, your old love and new love in the same place?"

"Shut up," Tanaka mumbled, looking at his feet, but Yamaguchi could tell he was happy that the Niiyama girls had won their match even before Karasuno had finished theirs.

"Ryuu!" Tanaka's sister came up with her drum corps following close behind, her arm slung around Akiteru's shoulders. "There's too many people here. We're heading to the bar down the road." She gave Tanaka a kiss on the cheek, and he screwed up his face when Kinoshita let out an exaggerated _aww_ next to him. "Great job out there, as always."

"You, too, Kei!" Akiteru said, as he let himself be dragged away. "You're such a hard-working little brother! I'll see you at home!"

"For god's sake," Tsukishima muttered at the ground, but Yamaguchi wasn't fooled. He knew when Tsukishima was happy and he was definitely happy right now. Yamaguchi waved as most of the adults cleared out, aside from Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei, not missing it when Akiteru grabbed Saeko's hand as they walked away.

"They're cute together," Yamaguchi said, nudging Tsukishima's side. 

"I guess," Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi dropped his arm back down as they finally started getting seated, and Tsukishima brushed the backs of their hands together. When he looked over, he expected Tsukishima to be looking away, but he wasn't. He was staring right at Yamaguchi, and it made _him_ look away first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look who comes crawling back with a transitional chapter but i promise next chapter is FILLED with good stuff. ♥


	12. Working in Reverse

It was unfair, Yamaguchi thought, that the school expected them to work after a big win. And it was a big win; the response in the days after their match was more than he’d ever dealt with. People he’d never talked to came up to him in school, and relatives his parents rarely talked to called the house because he’d been on the local news. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s class put up a big congratulatory banner, which embarrassed both of them, and _Volleyball Monthly_ wanted to interview all of the team’s starters.  
   
“Even me?” Yamaguchi asked when Takeda-sensei gave them all the news.  
   
“Why not you?” Tsukishima asked, and Hinata vehemently agreed.  
   
Interviewing was pretty stressful but Yamaguchi managed to answer a couple of questions about the Shiratorizawa match and his expectations for nationals. Most of the article turned out to be about Kageyama anyway, but that was something of a relief.  
   
By the time Yamaguchi was over his dazed exhaustion, caught up on his schoolwork, and feeling like his normal self at practice, it was already the weekend again. And just as Yamaguchi was about to invite Tsukishima over to his house, hopeful and nervous all at once, Tsukishima told him that his parents were dragging him out of town to see his grandparents that weekend. Tsukishima seemed pretty annoyed by it, which was kind of nice, but Yamaguchi was starting to think they were doomed to never meet on the same page. He felt like he had when he was a kid building careful sandcastles near the shore, only to have the ocean waves wash them away and he’d have to start all over again.  
   
Tsukishima asked Yamaguchi to look after Hachiko while he was away.  
   
“Taking her with us is too hard,” Tsukishima said, putting his house key into Yamaguchi’s palm after school on Friday. The urge to hold on was very strong. “And boarding her is stupid when she has you.”  
   
So Yamaguchi spent two days going in and out of Tsukishima’s house, alone, feeling glad that Hachiko’s vivarium was in Akiteru’s old room and not Tsukishima’s. If he’d been surrounded by Tsukki’s stuff, in Tsukki’s room, he might have been tempted to curl up in Tsukishima’s bed and wait there, just to see the expression on his face when he came home. But Yamaguchi didn’t want to freak out his parents, so he only went over to take care of Hachiko, who kept giving him accusing looks.

“I know,” Yamaguchi said out loud, his voice echoing in Tsukishima’s empty house. “I miss him, too.”  
   
In conclusion, it was a lonely couple of days.  
   
He didn’t even walk to school with Tsukishima on Monday; Tsukishima had gotten home too late the night before and sent a text saying he was skipping morning practice to sleep in. The walk to school was cold; it was November already and Yamaguchi wished he’d worn a heavier jacket or at least some gloves. Holding someone’s hand might have been nice, too.  
   
“Hey, Yamaguchi?” Hinata said, getting his attention while they were getting changed.  
   
“Mornin’, Hinata.” Yamaguchi shoved the last of his stuff into his cubby. “Did you need something?” He turned around and smiled.  
   
Hinata looked a little confused. He was holding a white envelope with a red border and scratching his head. “Uh, this is for you,” he said, shoving the card at Yamaguchi.

“Hmm? What’s this?” Yamaguchi asked.  
   
“I don’t know! Please open it!” Hinata wailed. “Tsukishima gave it to me on Friday and said I should give it to you when I saw you Monday morning and he said if I opened it or told you about it before now, he’d kill me, and I’m only like half-sure he was joking.”

“He was joking,” Yamaguchi murmured dismissively, turning the envelope over. “He gave this to you on Friday?”  
   
“Open it!” Hinata said, sounding desperate, which made Yamaguchi laugh though he guessed he’d be dying of curiosity by now if he were in Hinata’s shoes, too. He decided to put Hinata out of his misery and opened it.  
   
There was a card inside with the same red border and white center as the envelope. _Save the Date_ it read in Tsukishima’s handwriting, with Yamaguchi’s birthdate written underneath. It was only a few days away now, he realized. Clearly, Tsukishima hadn’t forgotten. At the bottom, it said, _I’m reserving you_.  
   
Yamaguchi swallowed. “It’s for my birthday,” he told Hinata. He laughed. “I guess I’m spending it with Tsukki.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Is that all?” he said. “I could have told you that without a dumb card.”  
   
*  
   
Yamaguchi slid into his seat just as classes were starting, but Tsukishima was there already, staring out the window. Something in Yamaguchi’s chest stuttered and he wondered what would happen if he just grabbed Tsukki’s arm and yanked him out of the room. They’d get in trouble, sure, but would he even care?  
   
Instead, he dug through his bag for a pen and scribbled _Okay!_ onto the card Tsukishima gave him, waiting until their teacher turned her back to reach over and slap it onto Tsukishima’s desk.  
   
He faced forward again after, but he could feel Tsukishima looking at him anyway, and reflexively smiled down.  
   
*  
   
The rest of the day dragged, what with Yamaguchi trying to will the weekend to come faster just through sheer strength of mind, but other than that it was pretty normal. Sure, it was kind of weird that Kageyama was able to convince Tsukishima to tutor him in math after practice with little complaint, but that was just a little thing. And Hinata and Yachi walked him home, so it wasn’t as lonely as the morning.  
   
Yamaguchi’s phone buzzed after dinner. _Working hard or hardly working?_ said Tsukishima’s text.  
   
_u sound like one of my uncles_ , Yamaguchi sent back.  
   
_We’re working very hard_ , Tsukishima replied, ignoring the insult. Attached was a picture of Hachiko wearing the world’s tinest party hat with confetti sprinkled all around her. Yamaguchi stifled a laugh.  
   
_lots of preparations to make?_  
   
_Of course. Two of my favorite people’s birthdays are coming up, after all._  
   
Yamaguchi was already grinning, and he grinned even harder at that. But all he said was, _lizards are people now?_  
   
_Shut up, Yamaguchi._ And Tsukishima sent a selfie, eyes narrowed, wearing a party hat and blowing on a noisemaker.  
   
“I like you so much,” Yamaguchi blurted out loud.  
   
In fact, it was loud enough that his mother called “Did you say something, Tadashi?” and made him turn red.  
   
“No!” he called back.  
   
Yamaguchi saved the picture to his phone. _don’t have too much fun without me,_ he messaged.  
   
_Do I ever?_  
   
*  
   
On Tuesday, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima walked together in the morning. It was another cool morning, and Tsukishima had his hands jammed deep into his coat pockets. Yamaguchi blew on his own hands to warm them, shivering when the wind whipped all around them.  
   
“For god’s sake,” Tsukishima muttered, shaking his head. “Where’s your jacket?”  
   
“I forgot it,” Yamaguchi said. “Again.”  
   
Tsukishima rolled his eyes. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and reached over to take Yamaguchi’s hand in his. Yamaguchi turned to blink at him in astonishment, but Tsukishima was looking studiously ahead. Yamaguchi didn’t know what to say and he didn’t want to break the fragile good luck he was having, so he kept putting one foot in front of the other and tried to ignore the way his he could hear his blood rushing inside his own head. Then, halfway through the walk, Tsukishima let go and walked around to Yamaguchi’s other side to take his other hand to warm that up, too.  
   
“Feel better?” Tsukishima asked, once they were almost all the way to school.  
   
That was a funny thing to ask. Yamaguchi’s face was probably bright red and his heart was still thumping so hard that he could feel it in his chest.  
   
“Yes,” Yamaguchi said, and his voice squeaked. He cleared his throat. “Thanks, Tsukki,” he said. That time his voice was lower than he expected, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tsukishima turn to look at him.  
   
“You’re welcome,” Tsukishima mumbled, and didn’t let go of his hand until they neared the gym.  
   
Yamaguchi got yelled at in class twice for not paying attention, but for the rest of the day he swore his hand tingled every time he looked at it. It kind of felt the same way it did when he hit a perfect service ace, but somehow even better.  
   
On the way home, Yamaguchi needed to stop and talk to Shimada, just to thank him for all of his help. He told Tsukishima to go on ahead.  
   
“I’ll talk to you later,” Yamaguchi said. It was then that he realized that they were alone, only the light from the Shimada-Mart sign lighting their way. A fizzy feeling bubbled up in Yamaguchi’s stomach and his eyes widened when Tsukishima stepped closer.  
   
“Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said, “I wanted to tell you that I admire what a hard worker you are. It makes me work harder, too.” Then he took both of Yamaguchi’s hands in his and squeezed them, before turning to walk away, waving as he left.  
   
Yamaguchi found himself staring after Tsukishima until he disappeared around a corner. He swallowed hard and hurried inside the store.  
   
*  
   
“Tanaka-san and I are going to practice at Niiyama after school,” Tsukishima told Yamaguchi before morning practice on Wednesday. They were holding hands again, having reached for each other at the same time, kind of thoughtlessly on Yamaguchi’s part. Once Tsukki pushed them forward that little step, it just seemed natural to keep doing it.  
   
“Okay,” Yamaguchi said, squeezing Tsukishima’s hand so he’d know he was really okay with it. They were nearly at school now, and Yamaguchi reluctantly pulled his hand out of Tsukishima’s grip.  
   
“So,” Tsukishima continued, “that means we’re going to have to do our block training this morning.” He ran ahead, jogging up the stairs to the clubhouse.  
   
Yamaguchi stared after him. “Wait, we’re doing block training this morning?” Tsukishima disappeared inside. “Tsukki, wait!”

*  
   
At practice, all the first years were busy working on receiving drills led by Nishinoya, which frankly looked terrifying, and the net was further away from center court than regulation. Ennoshita shot Tsukishima a thumbs-up when they came in.  
   
“You planned this,” Yamaguchi realized.  
   
“I’m returning your favor,” Tsukishima said, snapping his sports goggles into place. “You helped me with my serves, so I’m helping with your blocks. You’ve got plenty of potential and we need to put it to use. Come on, let’s get to work.”  
  
Yamaguchi put on his game face and nodded.

Getting to work with Tsukishima in charge was exactly as hard as it sounded. On the other side of the net, Kageyama was throwing a volleyball high into the air and catching it again, one-handed with no expression on his face, while Tanaka cracked his knuckles. Hinata waved happily, but that didn’t really make the other two any less intimidating, and Yamaguchi already knew that Hinata could be more of a threat than either of them anyway. Yamaguchi shot Tsukishima an unsure glance.  
   
“They’re your opponents,” Tsukishima said. “Learn to read their movements and block them.”  
   
Yamaguchi watched Tsukishima work as he demonstrated some read blocking, the way Tsukki would assess everything around him with no unnecessary movement. He didn’t know if he could do that. But Tsukishima helped him learn to watch where Kageyama was likely to send his tosses, stop in time when moving into place, and get his hands positioned just right.  
   
He did that by tugging Yamaguchi’s hands close to him and spreading out his fingers the way he wanted them for a block. Yamaguchi was glad he was already sweating and red from running around because otherwise he’d feel so on display right then.  
   
“Are you two ready to play again?” Kageyama asked impatiently.  
   
“Keep your pants on, Your Majesty.” Tsukishima didn’t even look over at Kageyama. He nodded at Yamaguchi and let go of his fingers, staring right at Yamaguchi as he said, “Okay, let’s do this together.”

Yamaguchi swallowed hard at that. “Sure, Tsukki.”  
   
Kageyama got things moving right away. He tossed to Tanaka, who spiked past both of them, then Hinata, who complained that Kageyama wasn’t tossing right. Then he smirked and dumped the ball onto the other side of the net, which made Tsukishima glare at him. 

“You’re not trying to trick _me_ ,” Tsukishima reminded him.  
   
Finally, Yamaguchi saw it. He could tell Kageyama was going to send a fast toss Hinata’s way, but Tsukishima didn’t lead the block at all. He let Yamaguchi run, and time it, and get his hands into position, just like he was shown. Hinata got the ball by him, but it was so close that Yamaguchi groaned out of frustration.  
   
“I can’t do what you do,” Yamaguchi said.

“You can,” Tsukishima said. “You’re smart and have good instincts. Don’t you want to aim higher?”  
   
“Of course!”  
   
“Well, if you can’t keep up, I’m going to sprint ahead. Why do you think I’m trying to get better at serving and receiving?” Tsukishima lifted his chin and stared down at him. “Don’t let me get away from you. Don’t you want me to be your rival?”  
   
Yamaguchi blinked. He always wanted to play so he could stand on the court _with_ Tsukishima, not because he thought he could ever be better than him. He’d never thought of Tsukishima that way ever. But he knew how much seeing strong opponents made him better, and if they kept incorporating new techniques and spurring each other on, they could be unstoppable. Tsukishima acknowledging him like that, he realized, meant the world to him.  
   
“Yes!”  
   
Tsukishima smirked and hunched down to face the net again. “Good.”  
   
*   
   
On Thursday, Yamaguchi woke to a picture of Hachiko eating a freeze-dried bug thing. The text read _She’s mad at me_.  
   
_how can you tell_  
   
Just then, he heard his mother opening their front door and greeting someone in surprise. A second later, he heard footsteps and a knock on his bedroom door.

Yamaguchi checked the time, just in case he’d overslept and not realized, but he was still good. He climbed out of bed and opened up the door, yawning and scratching at his scalp sleepily.  
   
Tsukishima was standing in Yamaguchi’s doorway, ready for school. He almost never met Yamaguchi at his house before school, and he never did it unannounced.

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi said, surprised.

“I can tell Hachiko’s mad because she was ignoring me before I left,” Tsukishima said, instead of hello. “She wanted to come over here, too.”  
   
Yamaguchi smiled. “Did she?” he said, his voice still deep and rough from sleep.  
   
Tsukishima looked startled for a moment. “Yes,” he said, then cleared his throat and seemed to come back to himself. “It was her idea for an early morning walk here, but I can’t take her to school.”

“Of course not,” Yamaguchi said. “She has good ideas.”

“Anyway, obviously I’m here to pick you up for school.” Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “Her other idea was that I sun myself in a patch in your room, but obviously that’s not feasible on a weekday.”

Yamaguchi laughed. “You know you can sun yourself in my room any time you want.”

Tsukishima pressed his lips together and Yamaguchi could tell he was trying not to smile. “I might take you up on that,” he said. “Go get dressed; I’ll wait in the kitchen with your parents.”

*

By Friday, Yamaguchi had butterflies flapping in his stomach all day. One day left until he turned seventeen. One day left till he knew what Tsukishima had planned.

Yamaguchi was waiting for Tsukishima to finish up in the bathroom after practice. He was washing his hands, but they were still in their sweaty uniforms and Yamaguchi wanted to hurry up and get home. 

“Tsukki,” he said, just as Tsukishima turned the water off, “what are we doing tomorrow?”

Tsukishima looked at him in the mirror as he dried his hands. “You really want to know?”

“Yes!” Yamaguchi stared at Tsukishima’s reflection, noticing a ghost smile cross his face at Yamaguchi’s impatience. “I think I’m dying here.”

Tsukishima turned around. He tugged one of Yamaguchi’s hands in; Yamaguchi went easily, stepping in close. Maybe someone on the team would come in and see them like this, but he didn’t even care. Yamaguchi was so far beyond caring it wasn’t even funny. He sucked in a deep breath when Tsukishima ran one finger up his forearm and back down, making the hair on Yamaguchi’s arm stand up. Then, Tsukishima drew a figure-eight in the middle of Yamaguchi’s palm.

“You’re getting exactly what you asked for,” Tsukishima said, and leaned down to press a kiss right where he’d drawn the shape. The kiss was feather-light, barely there and gone just as fast, but it didn’t matter to Yamaguchi’s heart, which felt like it was about to leap out of his chest.

When Tsukishima turned around and left the bathroom a moment later, Yamaguchi had clutched his hand into a fist, like he could trap the kiss there.

*

On Saturday, Yamaguchi woke up to bunch of birthday messages: everyone on the team, a lot of people from other teams, a couple of his classmates, and a few relatives. Hinata’s had a lot of emoji, animated balloons and confetti, and way too many exclamation points; Kageyama’s said _It is your birthday, Yamaguchi._ At least Yachi just wished him a fun day like a normal person, though she did add, _one year closer to dying haha!_ , which made his anxiety spike a little.

But the first message, sent at exactly midnight, was of course from Tsukishima. _Happy Birthday, Tadashi. You’re seventeen now. Does it feel any different?_

It did and it didn’t, Yamaguchi realized. So many things had changed in the last few years – he was braver, happier, had more friends, and was more accepting of what exactly his feelings for Tsukishima meant. But fundamentally, he was the same person, and he knew that person always wanted to be around Tsukishima Kei.

 _i think i’m a little different today_ , Yamaguchi messaged Tsukishima.

Shortly after that, his phone rang. 

“’Morning, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi said as soon as he answered, the butterflies in his stomach waking up properly now. 

“Come to the park,” Tsukishima said and hung up.

Yamaguchi got ready and ran down the street as fast as he could. Tsukishima was waiting for him, wearing jeans and a blue shirt, plus ridiculous green fingerless gloves and a red-and-white hat. But best of all was Hachiko. She was perched on Tsukishima’s shoulder and had red circles drawn on her cheeks, dressed in a yellow lizard hoodie that gave her mouse ears and a lightning bolt tail. Tsukishima clutched a volleyball in his hands; it was painted red-and-white to look like a Poké Ball.

Tsukishima pointed dramatically at him. “Yamaguchi Tadashi!” he shouted in an announcer voice that Yamaguchi had never heard coming from Tsukki’s mouth in his entire life. “Do you remember that when asked what you wanted for your birthday, you said you didn’t want anything other than to spend time with me and Hachiko and play Pokémon?”

Yamaguchi covered his mouth and nodded. “Yes, Tsukki.”

“Well!” Tsukishima went on, still pointing. “This is your birthday present. A real life volleyball Pokémon challenge. Great rewards await you if you succeed!” Yamaguchi was basically shaking with laughter now. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing; he couldn’t believe how happy he was. “Do you accept my challenge?” Tsukishima asked.

Yamaguchi wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Wait, wait,” he said, and held up his phone to take a picture.

“That’s the only one you get,” Tsukishima warned, sounding like himself again. Hachiko’s head bobbed up and down, as if in agreement.

“Okay,” Yamaguchi said and put the phone away. He puts his hands on his hips and regarded Tsukishima with mock-seriousness. “Of course I accept your challenge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's right, everything was leading to a pokémon battle. i really like to write realistically.
> 
> and let's not think too hard about the timeline, okay? okay.


	13. Fierce Battles and Great Rewards

Tsukishima walked over to Yamaguchi and stood right in front of him. He took the hat off of his head and put it on Yamaguchi’s. Then he peeled the gloves off his hands, which really had no right to look as good as it did, and tugged Yamaguchi’s hands close so he could slide them both over Yamaguchi’s fingers. He pulled the Velcro tight and then squeezed both of Yamaguchi’s hands.  
   
“These look better on you anyway,” Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi made a choked little noise. “I really doubt that.”  
   
Tsukishima narrowed his eyes, like he was thinking about picking a fight, but then relaxed again. It was Yamaguchi’s birthday after all. Then he handed Yamaguchi Hachiko and the pokévolleyball and saluted. “Good luck on your birthday mission,” he said.  
   
Then, he turned around and jogged away.  
   
“What the hell?” Yamaguchi asked Hachiko. She opened her mouth and yawned.  
   
Yamaguchi took a couple of steps in the direction Tsukki had headed. Suddenly, the bushes started rustling, and out jumped two people, blocking his way.

“Prepare for trouble!” the girl said.  
   
“And make it double,” the guy added.

“Augh!” Yamaguchi shouted and nearly dropped Hachiko.  
   
Saeko started to laugh as Akiteru ran to Yamaguchi’s side. “Crap, sorry. Tadashi, it’s only us.”

Yamaguchi handed Akiteru his volleyball and clutched his chest. He knew his birthday meant getting older, but he was still too young to die. “Just give me a second,” he said as his heartbeat went back to normal levels. This was mostly Tsukishima’s fault anyway; if he wasn’t so stupid hot and thoughtful, Yamaguchi’s heart rate would have at least started out normal before he got scared.  
   
“This is going really well!” Saeko said, reaching out to take Hachiko from Yamaguchi’s hands. She cooed at Tsukki’s bearded dragon and walked away a couple of steps.

“Sorry again,” Akiteru said, shaking his head. Then he grinned. “But Kei’s idea is a good one, isn’t it? He’s so thoughtful and such a sweet boy.”

“He has a mother, Aki,” Saeko reminded him. “Act like his brother already! He clearly didn’t get roughed up enough during childhood.”

Akiteru rolled his eyes. “Maybe Ryuu-kun got _too_ roughed up.”

“What do you know? He gives as good as he gets,” Saeko said, and they both beamed at each other. Yamaguchi didn’t really understand what was going on, but at least they seemed happy.  
   
The jealous feeling Yamaguchi felt the last time he’d hung out with them was gone, he realized. But he guessed spending tons of money on a lizard and its enclosure, and then planning some kind of weird life-sized video game scavenger hunt in return wasn’t something that just friends did. Yamaguchi felt warm down to his toes, and he grinned down at the ground.  
   
“Aw, he’s blushing,” Saeko said. Yamaguchi’s head snapped back up again.

Akiteru made a _tch_ noise that made him sound an awful lot like his brother. “Don’t embarrass him!” he admonished. “Okay, Tadashi, are you ready?”  
   
“Yes,” Yamaguchi said, and paused, “uh, how do we play?” He had a sudden image of Hachiko trying to roll a giant volleyball, or Akiteru pulling a kitten with an attitude from somewhere so it could battle Hachiko. He hoped it was the angry kitten thing.

Akiteru grinned. “Saeko’s going to toss to me and you’re going to see if you can block one of my spikes. If you can, you move on to the next battle.” 

“Oh!” Yamaguchi said. “Volleyball battles!”

“Yup.” Akiteru tossed the volleyball high in the air and caught it again. “But don’t think I’m going to make this easy on you. I’ve been practicing, you know.”  
   
Yamaguchi grinned. “I know,” he said. “Tsukki talks about you all the time.”

Now it was Akiteru’s turn to clutch his heart. Even from Yamaguchi’s distance, he could see that Akiteru’s eyes were welling up with tears. Saeko stopped spoiling Hachiko long enough to let out a low whistle.

“Low blow, Tadashi-kun.”

“I want my great rewards,” Yamaguchi said. “What’s wrong with that?”

Saeko let out a huge laugh. “Not a thing,” she said.  
   
It only took two tries for Yamaguchi to connect to one of Akiteru’s spikes, and slam it down onto the grass. The grin that already threatened to take over his face got a little bit wider.  
   
“Not bad, Tadashi,” Akiteru said, pushing the volleyball into Yamaguchi’s chest. “Okay, your next battles await you at the outdoor volleyball courts!” He gestured grandly in the right direction with Saeko mirroring him. She gave Hachiko one last kiss and handed her back as Yamaguchi started down the path.  
   
“We should get a pet when we’re living together,” he overheard Saeko saying as he left.  
   
“Shh!” Akiteru said. “I haven’t told Kei yet.”  
   
Yamaguchi pretended not to hear them as he walked away. That one wasn’t his secret to tell.  
   
*  
   
Yamaguchi spotted Yachi as he approached the courts. He grinned and started jogging over, but she started waving her hands frantically and shaking her head.  
   
“You’re not supposed to be here yet,” Yachi said. “I thought beating Tsukishima-kun’s brother would take longer. Oh, but your hat is cute!”  
   
“Thanks! Tsukki gave it to me.”  
   
“Aw. Uh – wait, uhm, okay, cover your eyes and turn around, Yamaguchi-kun.”  
   
“Okay,” Yamaguchi said with a laugh. He spun around and dropped his volleyball, putting one hand over his eyes. Hachiko seemed to be taking all of it in stride, letting Yamaguchi juggle her until she was cradled in his free arm. He waited as patiently as he could for Yachi, which was pretty difficult because the giddiness he’d woken up with had only grown. Plus, Yachi was making a lot of noise behind him. It sounded like she was dragging something big along the ground and into the sand that covered the outdoor court. “Do you need any help?” he called.

“I’m fine,” Yachi said, sounding out of breath. “Okay, you can look again.”  
   
There was a giant paper bullseye painted in Karasuno colors, propped up by an easel and sitting on the line of the opposite end of the court. Yachi gestured at it, beckoning with both hands. She looked insanely proud of herself, and it was very cute.  
   
“Did you make that?” Yamaguchi asked. 

“Yes,” Yachi said. “We all got to design our own battles, just to give one less thing for Tsukishima-kun to worry about. After he told me about it a couple of weeks ago, it was so hard to keep it a secret! I can only imagine how hard it must have been for him.”

Yamaguchi stared at Yachi. “A couple of weeks ago?” He knew how Tsukishima operated; by the time he looped anyone else in, he would have worked through every angle himself. That meant he probably got the idea the very night he’d asked Yamaguchi what he wanted to do for his birthday, the same night Tsukishima wanted to tell him something and Yamaguchi pretended to be asleep.  
   
“Yes, around that,” Yachi said. “Tsukishima-kun is a nice boy.” She laughed. “Usually. At least to me.”

“Me too,” Yamaguchi murmured.

Yachi grinned. “Well, we all know that.” She walked around the net and came over to stand in front of Yamaguchi, gently taking Hachiko from his hands. Hachiko obliged willingly, crawling up Yachi’s arm and perching on her shoulder. She stretched her neck out to gently nip at the ends of Yachi’s hair. “Oh, I love her,” Yachi said. “Do you think Tsukishima-kun would notice if I stole her away?”

“Yes, sorry to say,” said Yamaguchi. “He’s pretty attached.”

“Even if I made a very realistic papier-mâché double?”  
   
Yamaguchi nodded. “Even then.”

Yachi sighed. “Oh well,” she said, reaching up to stroke the bridge of Hachiko’s snout. “I’ll just settle for this then. Now! Your battle here is designed to help you aim your serve. If you get your pokéball through the bullseye, you level up! Otherwise, your mission ends and you’ll never collect your reward.”  
   
“This is definitely a challenge our Super Manager would come up with,” Yamaguchi said. “But I won’t let you get the best of me.”  
   
Yachi smiled widely. “That’s what I hoped. Good luck, Yamaguchi-kun!”  
   
Yamaguchi scooped up his volleyball and tossed it up a couple of times. Even though he was sometimes still shaky when it came to aiming his serves, there was no way he was going to let this end here. Working on sand was different than working on an indoor court, but there wasn’t much wind and he wasn’t trying to outwit an opponent. And he was pretty sure Yachi didn’t want him to fail. This was just something fun that would make him stronger; he thought, not for the first time, that he was lucky to have so many people who wanted to bring out the best in him.  
   
He wondered if Tsukishima thought that about Yamaguchi, and realized he probably did. It made him feel warm all over, like thinking of Tsukki often did, and he caught the ball with determination, tossing it in the air again as he jumped and took aim.  
   
“Wow!” Yachi yelled a moment later, jumping up and down and making Hachiko tumble off her shoulder. Luckily, she caught her easily. “One shot!” The paper bullseye was torn into four uneven pieces and the red-and-white volleyball lay on the other side of it. “Oh,” she said, and looked suddenly concerned. “All that work for nothing.”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “Not for nothing, Yachi-san,” he assured her.  
   
Yachi smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “Look how far you’ve come!”  
   
“So far,” another voice said. Shimada appeared by the easel, scooping up Yamaguchi’s volleyball. “Tadashi’s got me completely beat.” He threw the ball up, giving it some spin. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll make it easy for him.”

“Next battle!” Yachi announced, making Hachiko wave her cloth Pikachu tail. “Shimada versus Yamaguchi!”

*

Yamaguchi grinned. “Are we going to hit jump floaters back and forth?”  
   
Shimada rested the volleyball against his hip and grinned back. “I did consider having you try to hit a Shimada Mart bag, but that was too similar to Hitoka-chan’s idea and I was afraid of getting hit in the face. Plus, we’ve sort of done that before, haven’t we?”  
   
A memory of last year’s spring high and a blocked exit sign popped into Yamaguchi’s head then – Shimada appearing in the rafters, out of breath and grinning with a plastic bag in hand, giving Yamaguchi a much-needed focal point. A lot of people helped him get where he is today, and it was surprising how much Tsukishima noticed that. No, not surprising, Yamaguchi realized, because he knew that already. He’d known it for a long time, in fact.  Nice. It was nice to have proof of how much Tsukki noticed because he didn’t always say.  
   
“I guess we have,” Yamaguchi said.  
   
Shimada nodded seriously at him. “As your mentor, it’s my job to spur you on to higher levels. We already know that I can’t teach you anything else about serving, so do you have any ideas of what we’ll be doing?”  
   
“Making me serve while holding Tsukki’s lizard?” Yamaguchi suggested.  
   
Shimada tilted his head and pressed his lips together tightly. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “You know, you might want to work on how you phrase things, Tadashi.”

“Shimada-san!” Yachi exclaimed from the sidelines, scandalized. Yamaguchi tried not to blush too hard, but probably failed.  
   
“Sorry, sorry.” Shimada waved his hand in front of his face. “We’re working on your receives,” he said, and Yamaguchi groaned just as Shimada went on, saying, “even though I know you hate them. Do you think you can get a clean return on my jump floater serve?”  
   
Yamaguchi wasn’t sure. He’d practiced receiving with Kinoshita and Narita during school, but not too many players specialized in them the way he did, so he hadn’t had a lot of in-game experience with them.  
   
“Remember, you can’t become the ultimate Pokémon master if you don’t win all your battles!” Shimada held the red-and-white volleyball out in front of him and was wearing such a serious expression that Yamaguchi couldn’t help cracking up. 

“Did you practice that in front of your mirror?” Yamaguchi asked.  
   
“Maybe,” Shimada said defensively. “Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. I know for a fact that you’re not the only impatient person here today.”  
   
“Tsukishima-san sent us a lot of texts yesterday making sure we were all ready,” Yachi piped up. “Before that, I didn’t even know he checked his messages!”  
   
Tsukishima probably wouldn’t like them telling Yamaguchi this, but every new piece of knowledge about the work that Tsukki put into this made him breathless. At this rate, he wouldn’t have any air left in his lungs by the end of the day.  
   
“Let’s go,” Yamaguchi said.  
   
But that was easier said than done; Shimada’s jump floaters were a pain in the ass to deal with. Yamaguchi would think he was under one, but it would change trajectory and land behind him or off to the side. Or he’d manage to connect, but it would ricochet off his hands and fly out of bounds. This battle was taking longer than the last two, and Yamaguchi’s impatience started to grow. He swore to himself and handed Yachi his hat and gloves, so nothing was in the way.  
   
“You see, Tadashi?” Shimada called from the other side of the net. “This is what it’s like when you’re up against other teams. No wonder your serve is so valuable.”  
   
That gave Yamaguchi new confidence. When he hit a perfect serve, _he_ knew where his serve would go, so maybe he could predict Shimada’s.

“Ready?” Shimada asked. Yamaguchi nodded and hunched down. He waited as Shimada tossed the ball up and jumped, connecting with the ball and sending it over the net. Yamaguchi got into position.

“No,” he mumbled to himself, and side-stepped. Then the receive connected, and Yamaguchi could see that it was good. The ball sailed over the net and landed with a thud in the sand.  
   
Yachi, Shimada, and Yamaguchi all jumped up and cheered. 

“ _Nice_ , Tadashi!” Shimada exclaimed. He cracked his back with one hand on his waist. “And just in time, too. I don’t know that I had many more of those in me.”  
   
Yamaguchi grinned and walked over to him to shake his hand. “That was a good challenge,” he said. “And thank you again – you know, for everything.”

Shimada waved him off. “What kind of mentor would I be I didn’t help my disciple?” he said.  
   
“Are you done?” a new voice said, coming from the trees. “Can we come out now? Is it our turn yet?”

“Yes!” Yachi called back.  
   
Hinata and Kageyama stepped onto the court, both wearing predatory looks. Kageyama crossed his arms over his chest, while Hinata let a slow smile spread across his face.

“Boss level?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Boss level,” Kageyama agreed.  
   
*  
   
“You just have to get past us, and then you get the rest of your birthday present, Yamaguchi!” Hinata’s scary smile turned into his genuine one as Shimada threw Yamaguchi’s volleyball to Kageyama.  
   
“And with that, I’m out of here,” Shimada said. “Have fun, kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He put up his hand and Yamaguchi slapped it. “Happy birthday, Tadashi. I think it’s going to be a good one.”  
   
Yamaguchi nodded. It was, it already was, and he thought it would only get better.  
   
Hinata bounced over and did an excited mid-air leap. “I knew what was in the card I gave you last week! Tsukishima and I planned it all,” he told Yamaguchi proudly. “Were you fooled?”  
   
“I was,” Yamaguchi said honestly. “You were in on it the whole time? I really believed you were desperate to find out what was inside.” Maybe he’d been the one who was desperate all along. But Tsukishima tended to bring that out in him.  
   
“Let’s get on with it already,” Kageyama said gruffly.  
   
“Ah, Kageyama, you’re always all business,” Hinata complained.  
   
Kageyama huffed out a breath. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
   
“It means all you think about is volleyball!” Hinata shouted.  
   
“What else is there?” Kageyama shouted back. “Besides, don’t you think Yamaguchi wants to get moving, too?” He gestured at Yamaguchi’s face. “Just look at him.”  
   
Hinata peered at Yamaguchi. “Oh,” he said after a moment, “I guess you’re right. Sorry, Kageyama.”  
   
Kageyama shrugged and Yamaguchi reached up to touch his own face. He wondered what it looked like just then. He had to be showing his anticipation and happiness and excitement. How often had he given everything away before? Yamaguchi cleared his throat and tried to look as normal as possible again.  
   
“So, is it just me against you guys?”

“Sort of,” Hinata said. “You have to stop us yourself, but –”  
   
“We’re not the only ones here,” Kageyama finished.  
   
At that, the second years all ran out onto the sand, too, along with Amanai-san and Nakamura-san from Niiyama. It was unbelievable to Yamaguchi that Tsukishima managed to get all of these people here for him – for _them_. A warm feeling filled Yamaguchi’s chest, but he realized after a second that the warm feeling had already been there. It was just threatening to fill up more space with every passing second.  
   
“Five-on-five,” Tanaka announced. “Almost a full team!”  
   
“I’ll keep score,” Yachi said from the sides. “Hachiko, too.” The lizard was stretched out next to Yachi in the grass, fast asleep. Some scorekeeper, Yamaguchi thought.  
   
“I want to be on Yamaguchi-kun’s team,” Nakamura announced, walking over to him and sticking out her hand. She really was an uncommonly pretty girl; her girlfriend was definitely lucky. Plus, she’d helped Tsukishima so much. There was no way Yamaguchi could feel anything but grateful to her. He shook her hand and bowed a little nervously. “It’s nice to finally meet you properly!” she continued. “Tsukishima-kun talks about you so much, after all.”  
   
So Saeko had been right when she called Yamaguchi telling Akiteru that a low blow. Yamaguchi sort of felt like crying himself just then.  
   
But Tanaka slapped him on the back, snapping him out of it. “When he talks at all, that is,” Tanaka said. “Or he’s not being an ass.”

“So not that much!” Hinata concluded from the other side of the net, and Yamaguchi couldn’t help letting out a laugh.  
   
They broke up into teams, Nishinoya and Amanai joining Tanaka and Nakumura on Yamaguchi’s side, and Narita, Kinoshita, and Ennoshita on Kageyama and Hinata’s. 

Nishinoya bounced up and down, thrilled at getting to be a wing spiker for the first time in his life. “I’m going to get so many spikes!” he said, enthusiastically. “Watch out, Hinata! I might take your spot on the team.”  
   
Hinata gasped. “You _wouldn’t_.”  
   
“Try me,” Noya said and hunched down, but he was grinning.

They played for a little bit, just casually and slow to warm up. Yamaguchi thought he’d be impatient to move past this level, but he started getting into the game and having fun. Nakamura-san was so good that Yamaguchi decided he’d ask if he could come along the next time Tsukishima went to Niiyama, and Amanai-san turned out to be a pretty decent setter on top of being a great blocker.  
   
“Kanoka!” Tanaka said, running over to her with clenched fists and stars in his eyes, after she managed to dump the ball past Kageyama. “It makes me mad how good you are!”  
   
Amanai rubbed the back of her head, ruffling up her short hair. “You’re too nice to me, Ryuu-chan.”  
   
“GET A ROOM,” Kinoshita and Narita yelled from the other side, and Tanaka went so red that Yamaguchi could see it through his hair.  
   
Ennoshita laughed. “I think that means you’re one of the family now, Amanai-san.”  
   
After both teams had five points each, Yamaguchi could see that Hinata was getting restless, which made Yamaguchi restless, too. Hinata was an easy read, especially for someone as good as reading people as Yamaguchi, so he knew his chance would be coming soon. But first, he had to get through his serve. As it turned out, that was no problem. Yamaguchi jumped up and got a service ace, making Nakamura whistle appreciatively.

“Good to see that Tsukishima can back up his bragging,” she said with her hand raised. Yamaguchi slapped it and smiled.  
   
A few plays later, Yamaguchi rotated up front. Hinata and Kageyama were both by the net, too, and by then Hinata was practically vibrating as he waited for a good toss. Yamaguchi got ready for Kageyama and Hinata to do their thing. He knew how hard it was to get past their quick; he’d seen so many blockers try and fail, but he also knew it wasn’t unbeatable. Yamaguchi felt pretty good about his chances.  
   
And, after all, today wasn’t their day. It was his.  
   
But as it turned out, that wasn’t as easy as Yamaguchi hoped. Sure, Hinata was an easy read, but when he was playing volleyball, Kageyama was as hard to read as Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi didn’t have nearly as much practice when it came to him.  
   
Kageyama had fun toying with both Yamaguchi and Hinata, sending his fast tosses Ennoshita’s way instead of Hinata, or tossing to Hinata, but making it so a feint or a cross to someone other than Yamaguchi was the better move. His team managed to rack up quite a few points between that and Kinoshita’s serve.  
   
But then Yamaguchi saw it – Kageyama smirked right at Yamaguchi, because he _knew_ how much he was riling him up, and the next thing Yamaguchi knew, Kageyama was sending Hinata a great toss from an almost impossible angle. Yamaguchi’s heart started beating like he was in a real match and Kageyama was his actual opponent; that was when he realized that Kageyama saw every game like that, even fun birthday ones on an outdoor court in a park.

“Come on, Yamaguchi!” Tanaka yelled with Nishinoya joining him on his name.  
   
Yamaguchi could take volleyball as seriously as Kageyama could, as seriously as anyone on Karasuno, and as Hinata sailed into the air, Yamaguchi jumped up to meet him.  
   
A second later, Tanaka was ruffling his hair and Yachi was jumping up and down and Hachiko woke up.  
   
“Yamaguchi uses read block,” Nishinoya said. “It’s very effective!”  
   
Yachi handed Yamaguchi a towel and a bottle of water, which he downed immediately. Then she helped Yamaguchi get his gloves and hat back on, and handed Hachiko over. “Tsukishima-kun wanted me to tell you that you won’t need your volleyball for the next stage,” she said, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. Yamaguchi was pretty sure Tsukki hadn’t given any more detail than that, but Yachi could read between the lines easily enough. And so could he; he realized his face was going hot, too, and it wasn’t just from the pick-up game.  
   
“Good job, Yamaguchi,” Kageyama told him. Yamaguchi suddenly understood what Hinata meant when he said that sometimes Kageyama felt like his boss.  
   
Hinata slapped him on the back and jolted him forward, making Hachiko nip at Yamaguchi’s sleeve in protest. “Yeah, good job!” He jerked his thumb in Kageyama’s direction. “No thanks to this guy. Why’d you wait so long to let Yamaguchi try blocking us, dummy Kageyama?”

Kageyama frowned. “Don’t call me dummy, dummy.” He kicked some sand at Hinata’s ankles. “Tsukishima told me not to make it that easy on him.”  
   
“And you _listened_ to him?” Hinata asked.  
   
“Yeah,” Kageyama said. “He’s my friend.”

“He _is_?”  
   
“Yeah!” Kageyama said again, sounding angrier this time around. “He’s your friend, too, idiot.”

Hinata wrinkled up his nose. “I _guess_ so,” he admitted reluctantly.  
   
Yamaguchi laughed, but his amusement melted into something else when Yachi pointed out where he needed to go next.  
   
He’d defeated the final bosses, so there was only one thing left.  
   
*  
   
Tsukishima was sitting cross-legged in a field, hunched over and pulling at the grass. Yamaguchi sat down right next to him, taking off the hat that Tsukki had given him and pushing his hair off of his forehead. Then, after a second, he shuffled closer so their legs pressed together. “When we were little, you’d sit in the grass whenever we’d play baseball in gym class and make chains out of the flowers,” Tsukishima said without looking up. “Do you remember that?”  
   
Yamaguchi let Hachiko go, and she ambled over to Tsukishima, settling down on his sneaker. “Yeah, that always used to get me in trouble.”  
   
“Do you remember what I used to say about it?”  
   
“Huh. I don’t know,” Yamaguchi said after a moment. It was weird for him to not remember something Tsukishima said, but that had been a really long time ago.  
   
“I told you it was for babies,” Tsukishima said, “even though it was really because I was embarrassed that I didn’t know how to make them, too.”

“I would have taught you, Tsukki!”  
   
Tsukishima looked over at him then. “I know that now. But back then, I was always scared you’d find out what a loser I was and realize you wanted nothing to do with me.”  
   
“That’s – uh, that’s not likely to happen,” Yamaguchi said. _Ever_ , he wanted to add, but even now that felt too big for him. Too big for both of them, maybe. “In case you weren’t sure.”  
   
One corner of Tsukishima’s mouth twitched up. “Have you been enjoying your birthday present?” he asked.  
   
Yamaguchi’s first instinct was to offer reassurances, to tell him _of course!_ and _I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten a better present,_ but even though both of those things were true, all he said instead was, “You already know the answer to that.”  
   
Tsukishima nodded. “Well, I suspected, at least.”  
   
Yamaguchi started to reach over to take Tsukishima’s hand, but realized he didn’t want even a glove in the way. He pulled them both off, watching Tsukishima’s face as he did it. Tsukishima swallowed visibly. Then Yamaguchi linked their fingers together, one by one. Everything felt really quiet – and really important. He might kill anyone who interrupted them now.  
   
“So, do I have to battle you now?” Yamaguchi asked.

“I considered it,” Tsukishima said. “I even talked to Yachi-san about making a model of Hachiko to fight the real one.”

“So that’s where she got that idea from,” Yamaguchi muttered.

“What?”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “Nothing!”

“But as you can see, Hachiko’s special moves aren’t much to write home about,” Tsukishima said, reaching forward to scratch under his lizard’s chin. She flopped onto her side on the grass.

Yamaguchi laughed. “I don’t know, that level of boneless laziness is pretty intimidating.”

“She’s all right,” Tsukishima admitted. “I’m glad she shares a birthday with you.”

“Well, you did kind of orchestrate that,” Yamaguchi pointed out.

“Yes, but I still can be glad.” Tsukishima clutched Yamaguchi’s hand tight. “So instead of a battle, I wanted you to know something. I mean, you already know it, but I wanted to say it out loud.” Tsukishima paused took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “This is hard,” he confessed.

Yamaguchi shuffled closer, even though there wasn’t anywhere to go. “You don’t have to, Tsukki.” And he didn’t. He looked at Tsukishima’s profile, taking a second to admire how pretty it was before making a birthday wish that Tsukki look right at him already. Their faces were already close together. “You’re right, I do know.”

But that seemed to make up Tsukishima’s mind for him; a lot of his decisions came out of wanting to do the opposite of what was expected of him, after all. He turned his head and met Yamaguchi’s eyes. “I’ve liked you for a long time,” Tsukishima said, “and it took me forever to accept it. I never thought you felt the same way –”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Tsukki held his free hand up.

“I never thought you felt that way, until my birthday, after you gave me Hachiko.” Tsukishima pressed his hand to the side of Yamaguchi’s face. “And even then I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to mess anything up with us.”

“Me either,” Yamaguchi interrupted. “I never want that to happen.”

“But it won’t, will it? This isn’t going to mess anything up.”

Yamaguchi shook his head, his heart thumping hard inside his ribcage. He licked his lips nervously, only noticing he was even doing it because of the way Tsukishima’s eyes flicked down to watch him. It wasn’t clear to Yamaguchi who started moving first; maybe they both moved at the same time, meeting each other in the middle like they did for so many things. Yamaguchi’s eyes were closed and his mouth was already open a little before he fully realized they were kissing.

Tsukishima made a noise and dropped his hand from Yamaguchi’s face to grip the front of his shirt. It barely registered with Yamaguchi because he was too busy thinking about how soft Tsukishima’s lips were and how warm his mouth felt and how the real thing was better than anything he’d imagined before. Yamaguchi slid his tongue against Tsukishima’s almost accidentally, and that set off a whole series of firing nerves, little sparks all up and down Yamaguchi’s body. He still could only halfway believe this was happening for real this time and no one was interrupting them, but he was so happy, too. 

Finally, Tsukishima broke away to breathe and Yamaguchi pressed their foreheads together.

“I like you, too, Kei,” Yamaguchi said. “I like you so, so much.” 

Saying the words out loud were easier now that Tsukishima had said them, too. Back when Yamaguchi wasn’t sure if Tsukishima felt the same, Shimada had called him brave. And he did feel brave right then, but like most things that were important to Yamaguchi, it was better and easier with Tsukki by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was worth the wait! Loving all your comments and kudos, thank you so much for them. ♥


	14. Making All Sorts of Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I upped the rating because this chapter wound up more, uh, detailed than I originally expected. Consider this your warning or opposite of a warning!

Yamaguchi popped his head through the top of his shirt. He'd been seventeen for nearly two weeks, and though he didn't think he looked any different in the mirror, everything about him felt different. Tsukishima stepped in and tucked Yamaguchi's shirt tag back in; Yamaguchi looked over his shoulder to smile at him. Everything felt different because everything _was_ different.   
   
"Your shirt tag always sticks out, you know," Tsukishima said, moving away so he could change for practice, too. "It's been driving me crazy for months."  
   
Here was the different part: it wasn’t like Tsukishima was talking about his feelings all the time now that they were official-official, but he kept interjecting stray thoughts into conversations to let Yamaguchi know how often he thought about him. It was a lot, both in volume and for what it did to Yamaguchi's heart. He tried to ignore its erratic thumping and grinned.   
   
"You can be in charge of my tags any time you want, Tsukki," Yamaguchi said. He was flirting and he knew it, but that was okay; he was allowed to do that now. And he did it a lot – Tsukishima got embarrassed by it so easily, but he never told Yamaguchi to stop. It was pretty adorable.   
   
Tsukishima cleared his throat and sat down to tie his sneakers. "Are you ready for us tonight?"  
   
"Yes!" Yamaguchi chirped excitedly. He’d been counting down days to the weekend. "Hachiko’s going to be so impressed by my hosting skills. I can't wait to take the new vivarium for a spin."   
   
When he’d explained what a portable vivarium was and asked his parents for one as a birthday gift, his mom told him she was surprised he hadn't wanted it earlier. She was beaming when she gave it to him after he stumbled home on his birthday, still dazed from kissing Tsukki in the park, though she was less happy two days ago when he asked her to buy Hachiko freeze-dried crickets for tonight.  
   
“Hachiko’s really looking forward to it,” Tsukishima said, then added, “Me too.” Yamaguchi didn’t miss that his cheeks darkened a shade.  
   
“Should you two really be talking about this in public?” Tanaka said, sidling over to Yamaguchi and tugging once on his cowlick.  
   
Tsukishima raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to reply, but Yamaguchi tilted his head and said, “Jealous?” before Tsukki had a chance to say anything. Tsukishima wound up covering his mouth so no one could see him laughing.  
   
Tanaka shook his head. “You used to be so sweet, Yamaguchi. Tsukishima’s a terrible influence on you.”  
   
“That started way before we knew you,” Tsukishima said. He stood up and tugged Yamaguchi out of the clubhouse, pulling him along to practice.  
   
The truth was, Yamaguchi had started thinking he was the one who was the terrible influence. Ever since their first kiss, Tsukki took every opportunity to surprise Yamaguchi with more touching or kissing, even in places that Yamaguchi didn’t think Tsukishima would ever dare, and Yamaguchi thought at least half of that was to see his reactions. They made out for fifteen minutes in the supply closet the other day, and it only didn’t last longer because an oblivious Hinata walked in, wanting to know what was taking them so long. Just giving Tsukishima permission to do something made him very focused on doing the best job he could, and Yamaguchi found himself squarely in Tsukki’s crosshairs.  
   
Not that he was complaining. No, he was content in a way he’d never experienced before and he was still drunk on the idea of getting more and more, especially now that he knew Tsukishima wanted more and more, too. And honestly, Yamaguchi was just as bad. Worse, maybe. He hadn’t even told Tsukki that they had the house to themselves that night.  
   
*  
   
After practice, the team went out to dinner together, and then Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stopped at Tsukki’s house so he could pick up Hachiko and clothes for the next day. While Yamaguchi was waiting, Tsukishima’s mother patted his cheek and told him how happy she was for always taking care of her son.  
   
It wasn’t the first time she’d said something like that to him; back when they were younger, Tsukki’s parents were always thrilled that he had a friend and took the opportunity to say something whenever Tsukishima wasn’t in earshot to complain about it. Yamaguchi never knew how to tell them that Tsukishima was the closest and best friend _he’d_ ever had, too, so he just tried to make sure everyone else knew how awesome Tsukki was. He may have overcompensated a little there; at least he could admit that now. But even though Yamaguchi had heard it before, this was the first time he felt a little guilty about it. After all, the way he wanted to take care of her son wasn’t the way she meant it.  
   
“We’re dating,” he blurted, and then widened his eyes. Oh no. That wasn’t his thing to tell. He hadn’t even told his own family yet.  
   
Tsukishima’s mother looked confused. “I know,” she said. “Kei told us two weeks ago.”  
   
“Oh,” Yamaguchi said, and looked down at his toes. He felt warm all over, some mix of pleasure and embarrassment. “Okay.”  
   
“It’s obvious you make him happy!” she went on. “To anyone that knows him, that is.”  
   
Yamaguchi laughed. Yeah, Tsukki would probably always be a hard read. But that was part of why Yamaguchi loved him so much. Maybe he’d even tell Tsukishima that out loud sometime soon.  
   
“Why do you two look so cheerful?” Tsukishima said, eyes narrowed suspiciously as he came into the kitchen with a bag slung over one shoulder and Hachiko tucked under his arm. Her leash was attached to her collar, but Yamaguchi knew that was more wishful thinking than anything else. Tsukishima had changed out of his school uniform into a t-shirt and jeans, and even though that shouldn’t have been a big deal, it looked so good on him that Yamaguchi wanted to rip it all off of him right there.  
   
“No reason!” Yamaguchi said in a squeakier voice than he would have liked. “Are you ready to go?”  
   
“Obviously,” said Tsukishima, adding a goodbye for his mother.

“Okay!” Yamaguchi said, still squeaky. He cleared his throat. “Hachiko, lead the way.”  
   
*  
   
Yamaguchi let them into his house, reflexively calling out that he was home while they left their shoes and jackets by the door. The whole house was dark, and Tsukishima looked around curiously.  
   
“Where is everyone?” he asked.  
   
“Ah,” Yamaguchi said and scratched the back of his head. “My mom’s company is having some big thing tonight, so my parents won’t be back till late. It’s okay!” he added. “They know you’re here!”  
   
“So we’re alone?”  
   
“Yes.”

“For hours?”  
   
Yamaguchi nodded, feeling sort of embarrassed. “Sorry. I should have told you.”  
   
The expression on Tsukishima’s face turned suddenly warm – hot, really, and it made Yamaguchi swallow reflexively. “What part of that did you think I’d mind?”  
   
“Hopefully none of it?” Yamaguchi stepped in and took Tsukishima’s bag from him. “I just didn’t want you to think I had any expectations. You know that I’m happy to get you any way you want.”  
   
“Me too,” Tsukishima said, and ducked his head down to press his mouth to Yamaguchi’s. It was quick, but it had intent behind it, and Yamaguchi felt like he needed to sit down after Tsukishima’s teeth briefly scraped against his bottom lip. “But just for future reference, I don’t mind if you have expectations. I have them, too.” Then he and Hachiko, still under his arm, headed toward Yamaguchi’s room.  
   
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yamaguchi said faintly, following behind.  
   
*  
   
The portable vivarium was basically a regular empty aquarium with a clamp lamp attached to the rim. Yamaguchi had set up a clay tile that would soak up the heat right under the lamp to double up on the warmth, and put a beach of sand on the other end, still with room enough for her food and water. It wouldn’t be enough space for Hachiko to move around like she normally did, but she’d definitely be comfortable for the night.  
   
Yamaguchi watched as Tsukishima gently lowered Hachiko down and stood over the top expectantly as she settled in. He let Tsukki tut over her for as long as he wanted, shuffling off to the bathroom to change out of his school uniform into sweats and to brush his teeth. After all, it was his fault in the first place that Tsukishima was a package deal now; the least he could do was accommodate that.  
   
When Yamaguchi came back and shut his door behind him, Hachiko was sunning herself on the tile. Tsukishima was sitting on the edge of Yamaguchi’s bed, watching her, but his focus shifted to Yamaguchi almost immediately.  
   
“So what’s the verdict?” asked Yamaguchi.

“She likes it,” Tsukishima said. “Very thoughtful.”  
   
“I’m glad.”

Yamaguchi walked over until he was standing right in front of Tsukishima, making Tsukishima look up at him, his huge eyes behind his glasses watching him carefully. That was when the full weight of the situation finally hit Yamaguchi: A scenario he’d played out a hundred times or more in the last year was actually happening in real life. He had Tsukki in his room, they were alone, and Tsukishima wanted him back. It was all so unbelievable that it made everything take on a dream-like quality. Yamaguchi slipped his fingers underneath the arms of Tsukishima’s glasses and pulled them off, folding them carefully and putting them on his bedside table next to his DS.  
   
Tsukishima had his eyes open and kept them that way as Yamaguchi bent down and kissed him. They still hadn’t done this enough for Yamaguchi’s liking, but it seemed to be getting easier with every passing day, and when Yamaguchi opened his mouth, Tsukishima opened his, too. Yamaguchi got a knee up on the bed, right between Tsukishima’s legs, and he couldn’t help the sound he made when Tsukishima reached up to press his warm palm against the side of Yamaguchi’s neck.  
   
Yamaguchi kept shuffling forward, which made Tsukishima instinctually lean back, further and further until his back hit the mattress. They didn’t break their kiss until Yamaguchi was curled over Tsukishima on the bed, his palms on either side of Tsukishima’s head.  
   
Tsukishima’s mouth was wet, his hair starting to stick with sweat to his forehead, and his eyes seemed almost innocent without the frames of his glasses obscuring them. He was easily the hottest thing Yamaguchi had ever seen.

Yamaguchi let out a soft laugh. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he admitted.  
   
“That makes two of us,” Tsukishima said. He moved his hand from the side of Yamaguchi’s neck to tuck his fingers inside the collar of the old t-shirt Yamaguchi wore for bed. He pulled on the fabric a little. “Hey,” he said, “kiss me again.”  
   
Yamaguchi did. This kiss quickly turned wetter and more frantic as the full weight of them being completely alone started to set in, and Yamaguchi felt his eyes flutter shut as Tsukishima’s tongue slid against his. Yamaguchi’s arms were already trembling with the effort of holding him up, and they gave up completely when Tsukishima sucked hard on his bottom lip. Yamaguchi collapsed against Tsukishima, and they both gasped when Yamaguchi pressed his whole body down. Yamaguchi experimentally rolled his hips and Tsukishima let out such a long moan that he could feel it vibrating against his own mouth.  
   
Tsukishima broke the kiss, looking about as wrecked as Yamaguchi felt. “Yamaguchi, I –” His eyes suddenly cut to the side and he clicked his tongue. “Crap. Wait. Stop.”  
   
Yamaguchi immediately scrambled back toward the foot of the bed. “Sorry! Did I do something?” he asked. “Sorry!” he added for good measure.  
   
“No,” Tsukishima said, his cheeks going pink as he struggled back into a sitting position. “It’s not you, it’s just –” He narrowed his eyes and looked beyond Yamaguchi into the corner of the room. “I think Hachiko is watching us.”

Yamaguchi stared at him for a second, then started snickering into his hands.  
“It’s not funny, Yamaguchi.”

“Yes, it is,” Yamaguchi said. “Oh, Tsukki. Are you afraid of traumatizing your lizard?”  
   
“She’s a pogona.” Tsukishima pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose, adjusting the glasses that weren’t there. “I don’t want her watching us. It’s weird.”  
   
Yamaguchi held up his hands in apology. “Okay, okay. Then she can’t watch us.”  
   
It took a bit of thought since Yamaguchi’s brain wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders just then, and he was busy being amazed over them being interrupted _again_ , but Tsukishima spotted some of Yamaguchi’s school folders and they propped them up around the temporary vivarium in a makeshift privacy screen.  
   
“Her innocence is safe,” Yamaguchi declared once they were done, looking down into the vivarium with his hands on his hips. Hachiko was settling down on her warm tile and seemed ready for a nap anyway. He glanced over at Tsukishima, who was looking anywhere but at him.  
   
“Sorry,” Tsukishima mumbled. “I’m being stupid, I know.”  
   
“You’re not.” Yamaguchi looked down at his feet. “You know, It’s okay if this is really because you want to slow down, or –” He swallowed hard. “If you’ve changed your mind about us now that we were about to  – um, that’s okay, too. We can always go back to being friends.” Then, he made himself look up and grin brightly, even though saying those words made him feel like all of Hachiko’s sand was sitting low in his stomach. “I don’t only want you for your body, Tsukki!”  
   
Tsukishima reached out and wrapped his fingers around Yamaguchi’s wrist, making the forced smile slide off Yamaguchi’s face again. Tsukishima had such an intense look in his eyes that Yamaguchi had to bite back a gasp. “Do you mean that?” he asked. “Please don’t lie to me.”  
   
Yamaguchi pressed his lips together and shook his head hard. “Well, I meant the slow thing and the body thing,” he said. “I didn’t mean the just friends thing. We’ll always be friends; I think we both know that. But I wouldn’t be okay with it. I wasn’t even okay with it before.”  
   
Tsukishima’s shoulders sagged with relief and he let out a shaky exhale. “Thank god,” he said and tugged Yamaguchi close. “I wasn't covering anything up. I honestly feel weird about anyone watching us, even if it’s just my stupid pet lizard.”

“She’s very intelligent,” Yamaguchi said.  
   
Tsukishima sighed, put out, but a tiny smile crossed his face. He reached up to slide his hand along Yamaguchi’s jaw, tilting up his chin, and moved in so he could press their mouths together. They kissed slower than before, everything somehow heightened now, more intense, and Yamaguchi’s knees turned to water when Tsukishima sucked on his tongue. Yamaguchi fumbled to find Tsukishima’s other hand and laced their fingers together, squeezing hard as Tsukishima pressed his teeth into Yamaguchi’s bottom lip. Tsukishima’s hand found its way into Yamaguchi’s hair, sliding through and scratching nails against his scalp.  
   
Yamaguchi shivered, then gasped when Tsukishima broke away to mumble into his ear, “That’s what I wanted to do after we lost at interhigh.”  
   
“I would have let you,” Yamaguchi replied. He tugged on Tsukishima’s hand and led him back toward the bed, this time sprawling himself out on his back instead. He kept tugging until Tsukishima had one leg in between his, and his whole body covering Yamaguchi’s. All the times he’d thought of Tsukishima here couldn’t compare to the real thing, especially not after he hooked an ankle around Tsukishima’s shin, startling Tsukishima into jolting forward. “I thought it then, even,” Yamaguchi said, stretching up so he could speak into Tsukki’s ear. “How I would have let you do whatever you wanted to me.”  
   
Tsukishima let out a low groan and said, “Tadashi,” the same way he had that day. Yamaguchi kissed him again and wrapped his arms around Tsukishima’s shoulders, keeping him close.  
   
If Yamaguchi had been feeling nervous about this moment before, of finally getting Tsukishima exactly where he wanted him, it began melting away more and more each time their mouths met. Yamaguchi still didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but it was pretty obvious Tsukishima didn’t either, and that helped. And that made sense; he always felt better when they did things together, so why should this be any different?  
   
Tsukishima pulled back, causing Yamaguchi to reflexively whine at the loss, but he didn’t go far. The whine turned into a gasp as Tsukishima started sucking on Yamaguchi’s throat, moving his way up until he had his tongue inside Yamaguchi’s ear. That wasn’t something Yamaguchi thought he’d like, but his nerves fired up all the way down his spine until his leg jerked. “Tsukki,” he gasped, and at his name, Tsukishima bit Yamaguchi’s earlobe and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, low down by his stomach, pushing it up. “Take it off, just take it off,” Yamaguchi said.  
   
Tsukki’s eyes were wide when he sat back, but he didn’t protest, pulling Yamaguchi up so he could tug his t-shirt over his head and throw it somewhere in his room. The air around them made the sweat on Yamaguchi’s skin cool off, but he was hardly given a second to breathe before Tsukishima was back and pressing his open mouth against his collarbone. Everything was so overwhelming, but so good.  
   
“Fuck,” Tsukishima muttered, his mouth muffled by Yamaguchi’s skin. “I can’t believe I get to do this.”

“ _You_ can’t?” Yamaguchi pushed his hands underneath Tsukishima’s shirt and ran his hands down his back, all the way from his shoulders and stopping right where his pants started. He paused, then screwed up his courage and kept going, grabbing Tsukishima’s ass and pulling him closer. They both gasped at that and Tsukishima collapsed against Yamaguchi’s chest as they rocked against each other. Tsukishima rolled them, so he was on his side and they were face-to-face, and Yamaguchi slung his leg over Tsukishima’s until they were fitted close together.  
   
Now Yamaguchi felt even more out of his depth, but at the same time, no one could have paid him any amount of money to stop. Their mouths met again; they probably moved at the same time, but Yamaguchi couldn’t say. All he knew is they couldn’t stop kissing each other and the ragged breaths filling the room soon changed into helpless moaning. Yamaguchi’s dick strained against his pants and he knew that if Tsukishima kept rolling his hips against him everything was going to be over in thirty seconds.  
   
“Kei,” Yamaguchi said against Tsukishima’s mouth. He was trying to get him to slow down, but Tsukishima moaned at Yamaguchi saying his name and started thrusting faster. Yamaguchi pulled back to look at Tsukishima’s face. “Kei,” he said again, and Tsukishima shuddered. “You like that, don’t you?”  
   
Tsukishima nodded and pressed his forehead against Yamaguchi’s shoulder, still rocking his hips against Yamaguchi’s. He didn’t seem like he could form words anymore, which helped Yamaguchi get his bearings back.  
   
“Kei, come on,” Yamaguchi urged, pulling him close as Tsukishima moved against his thigh, faster and faster, “I’ve got you, come on, I’ve got you.” Yamaguchi pulled Tsukishima flush against him, as close as they could get with clothes still in the way. Tsukishima let out a long, breathless exhale and his whole body went rigid for a moment before he relaxed.  
   
Tsukishima let out a few unsteady breaths, forehead still pressed to Yamaguchi's shoulder. Eventually, he lifted his head so he could see Yamaguchi's face. “Well, that was mortifying,” he said, once he could speak again.  
   
“Hot,” Yamaguchi corrected, still shifting restlessly. He wasn’t moving as fast as before, but he was still rocking against Tsukishima’s leg, needing the friction. He figured if Tsukki kept letting him hold on to him, it wouldn’t take much before Yamaguchi followed behind. 

Tsukishima shifted then, the slow drag of his thigh in between Yamaguchi’s legs making a groan escape, low in his throat, but the next groan was a disappointed one because Tsukishima started pulling away.  
   
“No,” Yamaguchi protested weakly, but the protest died again when Tsukki sat back and hooked his fingers into the waistband of Yamaguchi’s pants.  
   
“Can I?” Tsukishima asked. Yamaguchi’s eyes widened and he nodded. He lifted his hips to help Tsukishima out, and when his pants were tangled up around his knees, Tsukishima ran his hands up Yamaguchi’s thighs. “You don’t have as many freckles here,” he said.  
   
“Were you keeping track?” Yamaguchi asked, though the last word got choked off when Tsukishima’s fingers wrapped around him.  
   
“Yeah,” Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi didn’t know if he was answering his question or reacting to Yamaguchi jerking up into his hand. “God. You look so good like this.”

Yamaguchi babbled something incoherent, probably a lot of curses, especially after he glanced down and saw his cock pushing through Tsukishima’s fist. Tsukki’s fingers were rough, calloused from blocking and from taping them up all the time, and it was only sheer stubbornness that stopped Yamaguchi from coming all over himself and Tsukishima’s long fingers right there. He just wanted a little bit more.  
   
“Wait, wait,” Tsukishima said, though he didn’t stop stroking. He almost seemed to be talking to himself, like he was working out logistics in his head. “I can do better than this.”  
   
“You’re doing fine,” Yamaguchi gasped, throwing his head back and scrunching his eyes shut. He could feel it now, the pooling warmth low in his belly that meant he was close, and he let out a whimper when Tsukishima let go. But Tsukishima didn’t go far, stretching out alongside him, just as he had when he watched Yamaguchi play games for hours, his warmth seeping into Yamaguchi’s side the same way it had then.  
   
“Here, just –” Tsukishima rolled Yamaguchi until they were both on their sides, back to chest, and pulled him in close. He murmured into Yamaguchi’s ear, “This way it’s more like when I do it to myself.”  
   
Yamaguchi moaned and grabbed Tsukishima’s wrist, tugging his hand to his mouth to suck Tsukishima’s fingers into his mouth and getting them wet. “Like this,” he said and guided Tsukki’s hand back down. And Tsukishima was right, like he often was, even when they were figuring something new out. The angle this way was better, his hand felt better now, even his grip felt better. Yamaguchi pushed into the tight circle of Tsukishima’s fist, a counter to Tsukki’s movements. Plus, this way Tsukishima could speak directly into his ear.  
   
“I’ve thought about this so much, Tadashi,” Tsukishima said. “You don’t even know.”

“I do, I do, I do,” said Yamaguchi. He knew. He _so_ knew. He really, really did.  
   
Tsukishima twisted his grip, and Yamaguchi groaned and shook and spilled over his fingers when Tsukki murmured, “This isn’t even over yet, and I already can’t wait to do it again.”  
   
Yamaguchi turned his head, stretching over his shoulder to kiss Tsukishima open-mouthed and wet as tremor after tremor wrecked him. Tsukki kissed and stroked him through it, not breaking the kiss or letting go until every last bit of feeling was wrung out of him. Afterwards, Yamaguchi felt boneless and blissful and even though he knew they’d need to move, he never wanted to.  
   
He tentatively opened one eye and looked down the length of his bed. “Wow,” he said, awed. “Sex is messy.”  
   
Tsukishima made a noise of agreement. “I feel so gross right now. At least you managed to hold off until your pants were off.”  
   
Yamaguchi rolled until they were facing each other again, nudging Tsukishima’s jaw with his nose and kissing him just underneath his chin. “You want to make me come in my pants, too, Tsukki?”  
   
Tsukishima swallowed hard at Yamaguchi's words. “Can I at least clean up from the first time before you get me worked up again?”

Yamaguchi wanted to be a jerk and say no, but he got stuck on Tsukishima’s words: the first time. That meant they’d have a second and a third time. There might be a hundredth time and eventually there could be so many times that they’d both lose count. By the time Yamaguchi came back down to earth, Tsukishima was rolling off the bed to duck into the hall and head toward Yamaguchi’s bathroom. He came back with a couple of damp cloths and immediately began stripping, tugging on the neck of his t-shirt and pulling it over his head.  
   
“I’d feel stupid just taking my pants off,” Tsukishima explained, like Yamaguchi was complaining. Yamaguchi, in fact, was having trouble speaking at all, his mouth going dry at the sight of all of Tsukishima’s skin. He’d spent months trying to avoid looking, afraid of what would happen if he stared the way he wanted to, and now he could. Tsukki didn’t care. Tsukki wanted him, too, wanted _him_. It was amazing.  
   
What wasn’t amazing was Tsukishima dropping a cold washcloth onto his bare stomach. Yamaguchi yelped and nearly rolled off the bed, getting trapped in the tangle of sweatpants around his ankles. And while he was trying to free himself from his cotton prison, he nearly missed it when Tsukishima lost the last of his clothes.  
   
“Unfair,” Yamaguchi grumbled as he tried to clean the worst of the mess, while Tsukishima did the same.  
   
Tsukishima laughed and took the cloth from him again, dropping everything into a pile on the floor. “Did you want a show?” he asked.  
   
“Yes!” Yamaguchi said.  
   
“Next time,” Tsukishima said, and crawled back into Yamaguchi’s bed.  
   
“I’m going to hold you to that.” A smile spread across Yamaguchi’s face as Tsukishima pulled the covers over both of them and snuggled in, pressing his nose to the back of Yamaguchi’s neck. He didn’t know if he was grinning over the surprise of Tsukishima being a cuddler or the fact that he was laying around naked with someone else and it barely even registered as awkward. But it was just Tsukki; okay, it wasn’t _just_ Tsukki. It was _Tsukki_. Really, it was always Tsukki.  
   
They lay there for a little while, Yamaguchi idly playing with Tsukishima’s hands and Tsukishima letting him. He could probably fall asleep like this, but it was still early and that felt like a waste of time. And, like pretty much always, Yamaguchi wanted to see Tsukishima’s face again. He rolled onto his other side until they were facing each other again, looping his arms around Tsukishima’s neck. “Do you feel any different?” he asked.  
   
Tsukishima shook his head no, then nodded. “I don’t, but I do.”  
   
“That clears things up,” Yamaguchi said, and laughed.  
   
“You know what I mean.”  
   
Of course Yamaguchi did. He guessed that was what falling for someone who’d always been there was like. Yamaguchi tilted his head and slotted their mouths together again; Tsukishima went easily, closing his eyes before Yamaguchi did. They probably had at least a couple of hours before anyone got home, and now that the desperate edge had been taken off, it left him breathless with possibility.  
   
While they kissed, Tsukishima rested a hand on Yamaguchi’s hip, his thumb idly stroking the skin there, and Yamaguchi was already reconsidering that desperate edge thing. And any stupid ideas about desperation being off the table because of one measly orgasm were gone the second Tsukishima pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips.  
   
The covers slid down Tsukishima’s back as he straightened up, and Yamaguchi realized this was the first time he was getting a decent look at all of him. He gulped when he noticed he was outright staring, but Tsukishima didn’t seem to care. Yamaguchi ran his hands up Tsukki’s thighs, from his knees to the crook of his hips, in awe over the way they went on and on. He unconsciously licked his lips, watching Tsukishima react to the little touches and Yamaguchi’s eyes on him, taking note of the way Tsukishima started to get hard again just from that.

Not that Yamaguchi could blame him – after all, his own reaction was pretty much the same.  
   
Tsukishima leaned over, curving his body over Yamaguchi’s and sucking a line of kisses from Yamaguchi’s shoulder, up his neck, and all the way up to his ear. All of his skin was sensitive, way more than Yamaguchi would have guessed. His breaths started coming faster at each swipe of Tsukki’s tongue or scrape of his teeth, and he gripped Tsukishima’s thighs hard.  
   
“You like this,” Tsukishima said, not a question but there was still a note of wonder in his voice.  
   
“Uh. Yeah,” Yamaguchi managed, swallowing hard when Tsukishima found a place on his neck that he particularly liked, sucking and licking it over and over. He wondered if Tsukishima would leave a mark, and wondered if he’d bother covering it up if he did. “Your mouth – it’s – it’s a good.” He screwed his eyes up tightly. “I mean, it feels good.”  
   
Tsukishima’s shoulders shook with laughter, but he didn’t move his mouth from Yamaguchi’s skin right away. “I like my mouth on you,” he said, pressing his lips to Yamaguchi’s as if to emphasize his point. Yamaguchi couldn’t get enough of the way their mouths opened easily together, of the slide of their tongues, of sinking his teeth into Tsukishima’s bottom lip until he got him to gasp. “Can I try something I think about a lot?” Tsukishima asked when they broke away to breathe.  
   
“Anything,” Yamaguchi said.  
   
Tsukishima pushed up, balancing himself on both hands. “I might not be any good,” he warned.

“Tsukki, for fuck’s sake.” Yamaguchi reached up and stroked his thumb against Tsukishima’s cheek. “Kei. If there’s anything you should know about me already, it’s that I trust you.” He grinned. “And if you suck, I’ll stop you.”

“Well,” Tsukishima said, “you might want to rethink that phrasing.”  
   
At that, Tsukishima kissed his way down Yamaguchi’s throat and kept right on going, pressing his open wet mouth down the center of Yamaguchi’s chest. Yamaguchi got the picture as Tsukishima kept shifting further down his body, biting his stomach lightly and briefly dipping his tongue into Yamaguchi’s navel; just the thought of what was about to happen was enough to make him shiver. Tsukishima got his hands on Yamaguchi’s legs and gently nudged them apart, settling in between them while his mouth was still hot on Yamaguchi’s belly.  
   
“Oh,” Yamaguchi said, his eyes wide as Tsukishima’s fingers circled his dick again and stroked him a few times, taking him from most of the way to all the way there. It was too much and too little all at once, having Tsukishima’s mouth _right there_ , but not where he wanted it, the way he thought of it so often.  
   
“Still okay?” Tsukishima asked, looking up to Yamaguchi’s face. He squinted, probably trying to read Yamaguchi’s expression without his glasses, but Yamaguchi was nodding vigorously and saying, “Yes, yes, I’m okay,” which was pretty conclusive.  
   
The first drag of Tsukishima’s tongue made Yamaguchi throw his head back and close his eyes. The second had him grabbing his headboard with one hand and exhaling on a shudder as he tried to keep his hips still. The third had him moaning Tsukishima’s name, and after that he lost track because Tsukishima stopped licking him and closed his mouth over the head, sucking lightly and then harder when Yamaguchi’s moans grew louder and closer together.  
   
Yamaguchi hadn’t realized how sensitive he was; his hand couldn’t even begin to compare to this. He heard himself talking, barely even realizing what he was saying, any filter his brain usually provided disappearing into the slick heat of Tsukki’s mouth.  
   
“ _Tsukki_.” Yamaguchi took a deep breath, trying to gulp down enough air. “I think about this all the time. Your mouth on me – and me too, me too, my mouth on you.” At that, he felt more than heard Tsukishima groan around him, which made his hips twitch up, pushing more of himself into Tsukishima’s mouth, which made Tsukishima groan _more_. “You’ll let me do that, too, right? I’m gonna— there are so many things I want to do to you, god, you don’t even know.”  
   
Yamaguchi let go of his headboard and struggled onto his elbows so he could watch what was happening, which was such a mistake. Now, instead of just feeling himself inside Tsukishima’s mouth, he could see it, too. And Tsukishima’s mouth was so swollen and slick, it was already too much before he noticed Tsukishima’s hand between his own legs, jerking off to Yamaguchi’s words.  
   
“Kei, no, stop touching yourself,” Yamaguchi said in a shaky voice and Tsukishima _did_ , he stopped right away, as soon as the words were out of Yamaguchi's mouth; Yamaguchi could see him digging his own nails into his thighs, struggling to keep his hand there. “I want to –  promise you won’t have to wait long. Love your mouth— so good, you’re so good at that.” Yamaguchi reached down and started petting Tsukishima’s hair, just repetitive motion so he could keep touching Tsukishima. He was feeling so much all at once that he thought if he didn’t have Tsukki there to keep him grounded, he’d go flying off in every direction.  
   
He pulled at Tsukishima’s hair and he guessed everything was heightened for him, too, because at that Tsukki moaned around him, loud, and the reverberations from that were enough. Yamaguchi’s stomach muscles seized up and he felt his skin go hot all over and he tried pulling Tsukishima off with a, “Kei, come on, move – I’m gonna, I’m gonna –” but Tsukishima refused to go anywhere and Yamaguchi shuddered hard and flooded his mouth.  
   
Tsukishima stayed down there for a bit, making Yamaguchi twitch again with every touch of tongue or scrape of teeth, oversensitive and wrung out. But when Tsukki stretched out alongside him again, Yamaguchi went right in for a kiss, wanting that connection. Tasting himself in Tsukishima’s mouth was so weird, but hot, too.  
   
“How are you so good at everything?” asked Yamaguchi, breaking the kiss now that he could form words again.  
   
“I’m not,” Tsukishima said automatically. “Shut up – _fuck_.”  
   
Yamaguchi wrapped his hand around Tsukki before he could finish his sentence, and Tsukishima's voice shook on his last word.  
   
“Sorry,” Yamaguchi murmured as a grin spread across his face.  
   
Tsukishima looked like he wanted to say something else, but he also had a glazed expression in his eyes that meant that forming words was pretty difficult just then. Yamaguchi swiped his thumb over the wetness at the tip and used that to ease the way. He could tell Tsukishima wasn’t going to last much longer, which he totally couldn’t blame him for, but he wanted to make sure he got a good look and drank in every detail while he could.

It turned out Tsukishima’s blush really did go all the way down, and that selfie he’d sent only hinted at how good he looked when it happened. He was biting on his bottom lip and whimpering, like he was used to biting back sounds, but Yamaguchi leaned forward to tug Tsukishima’s lip free with his own teeth.  
   
“Let me hear you,” Yamaguchi said against Tsukishima’s mouth as he twisted his wrist up.  
   
“Tadashi, faster, _please_ ,” Tsukishima gasped, complying, and arched up into Yamaguchi’s hand. Yamaguchi tightened his grip and sped up, and while Tsukishima wasn’t as loud as Yamaguchi would have liked – if he shook the house down, that might have been enough – he kept on saying Yamaguchi’s name while he shuddered and writhed and came all over Yamaguchi’s hand.

Later, after they'd cleaned up and Tsukki let him spoon up from behind, Yamaguchi said, "You were right."  
    
“Hmm?” Tsukishima said in a faraway voice. From his tone, Yamaguchi could tell he was about to drift off, which sounded okay to him. A nap would be nice.  
   
“About the screen,” Yamaguchi said. “Hachiko didn’t need to see that.”

“It was just us,” Tsukishima murmured, his voice just barely above a whisper now. “I like it when it’s just us.”  
   
*

Yamaguchi woke up a couple of hours later, his room completely dark other than the glow from Hachiko’s vivarium and the streetlamps filtering in from outside. Tsukishima was still sleeping, snoring softly with his mouth open, and Yamaguchi committed that image to memory instead of taking a picture with his phone and dying too young when Tsukki inevitably found out about it later.

His stomach rumbled audibly then, so he got dressed and crept out to the kitchen. He was halfway through putting snacks and drinks on a tray when his parents came home from their night out. His father ruffled his already-messy hair before heading toward his parents’ bedroom, but his mother stuck around, sitting at their small kitchen table and rubbing her feet.

“Did you have fun?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Yes,” his mother replied. “As much fun as a work event can be, at least. Your father danced with all of my coworkers.” She grinned. “I took video.”

So that was where he got it from. “Blackmail material, nice,” he said. “At least I know the secret to a long marriage now.”

She nodded. “Use that information wisely.” His mother tilted her head. “What about you? You look like you had a nice night, too.”

Yamaguchi went tense all over. Could she _tell_? He really hoped not. “Ah— oh. Do I?”

“Yes, you were smiling to yourself when we walked in,” she said. “That, or you’re way more into those wasabi rice crackers than I thought.”

“No,” Yamaguchi said. “I mean, they’re good, but – the vivarium worked out really well. Kei’s really happy.”

His mother raised both eyebrows. “Kei, huh? I don’t know that I’ve ever heard you call him that before.”

Yamaguchi blinked. He hadn’t even noticed. “Ah. I guess – I guess we’re just growing up?”

“Don’t remind me,” his mother groaned. She got up from her chair and stretched up to kiss his cheek good-night. “You’re making your mother feel old.” Then she turned and started to walk out.

“I’m in love with him,” Yamaguchi blurted to the rice crackers.

His mother paused in the doorway. Yamaguchi lifted his head to look at her; she was watching him over her shoulder, but she didn’t seem mad or surprised. She was just waiting for him to continue.

“I just thought you should know,” Yamaguchi said. He took a deep breath. “It’s – uh, and it’s mutual. We’re dating.”

“Did you tell Dad already?” she asked.

Yamaguchi shook his head.

She pumped her fist in victory. “I win!” she crowed, and Yamaguchi let out a surprised burst of laughter. “Make sure you throw that in when you do tell him.”

“Okay,” Yamaguchi said, still grinning.

“For the record, I’m happy for you, Tadashi. All I want is someone who will make you happy, and Kei-kun pretty clearly does that.”

Yamaguchi nodded vigorously. “He really does.”

His mother left the room then, giving him time to grin stupidly at the rice crackers some more.

*

On Monday after practice, Tsukishima was waiting for Yamaguchi to finish getting ready, teasing him for being the last one out of the clubhouse, when Tanaka cornered him.

“Oi, Tsukishima.”

“What?” Tsukishima said suspiciously. Yamaguchi hurried to button up his uniform and gather up his things.

“Kanoka wanted to know if you two wanted to go out with us again, like we did for ramen that one time.” Tanaka scratched the back of her head. “You know, with less awkwardness this time.”

“Why should we do that?”

“Because Kanoka likes you guys, and I know you like her back. You don’t fool me, you know! If you want, we can invite your friend from Niiyama, too,” Tanaka said, elbowing Tsukishima in the side. “The captain. She has a girlfriend, right? We’ll make a whole triple date out of it.”

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, his eyes cut sharply to Yamaguchi. “What do you think, Tadashi?” he asked.

“ _Tadashi_ ,” Tanaka said, which echoed Yamaguchi was thinking, though their tones were significantly different.

“I think –” Yamaguchi tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I think our last triple date was fun, wasn’t it?”

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose. “Fun, or tolerable only because you were there?” 

He didn’t, Yamaguchi noticed, deny that that had been a date. It seemed only the official declaration was needed to rid themselves of any lingering pretense.

“I’d be there again,” Yamaguchi pointed out.

“Fine,” Tsukishima said. He sighed heavily, but Yamaguchi knew he wasn’t really annoyed, especially when a hint of a smile crossed his face. “Okay, Tanaka-san. We’ll come along to protect you from your girlfriend again.”

“She’s not –” Tanaka shook his head. “Okay, fine, she is my girlfriend. She makes me so happy and I hope we stay together for a really long time. So thanks!” He puffed out his chest and broke into a huge, toothy grin, waving as he ran out of the clubhouse. 

Yamaguchi was proud of him. Also, he could relate. He turned toward Tsukishima with a giant grin of his own.

“That was downright nice of you,” Yamaguchi said, stepping in close so he could wind his arms around Tsukishima’s middle. “You’re a sweet guy, Kei. Did you know that?”

“Am not,” Tsukishima muttered, then betrayed himself when he pressed his lips against Yamaguchi’s forehead.

Yamaguchi tilted his chin up to kiss Tsukishima properly, his insides bubbling with happiness, especially when Tsukishima easily kissed him back. For the millionth time in the last few weeks, he couldn’t believe his luck and he committed this kiss to memory.

In fact, so many of Yamaguchi’s memories were wrapped up with Tsukki: from running off his childhood bullies to just today at lunch. There was starting volleyball as a kid to this afternoon’s practice, the first service ace Yamaguchi ever made to Tsukishima’s first block against a powerhouse. There were walks to school and nights in Tsukishima’s backyard and so many classes together. There was fighting over their motivation and then fighting for wins together, all their near kisses and all the successful ones that eventually followed. There was Yamaguchi’s plan for Hachiko, and Tsukishima’s plan later to thank him for that. 

There were good days and bad days and everything in between. Yamaguchi wouldn’t change a single one. All he could do now was look toward the future, making more and more memories with Tsukishima in them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, and that's it! Obviously that was more like a coda than actual main story continuation, but I think we all earned that. I had a blast writing this and I'm thrilled it was well-received. It's the first thing I ever started writing in HQ and I'm shocked I finally finished it and double-shocked it clocked in at over 50,000 words. It was supposed to be a quick little one-shot. But I guess that's the power of lizards for you.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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